Google’s August 2024 Core Update has finally been unleashed, much to the anticipation of SEOs and publishers. However, it has been followed by an untimely ranking bug that is still ongoing after three days. This update has the potential to significantly impact a publisher’s traffic from Google Search.
So far, the observations regarding the August core update have been mixed. While some sites have not seen any changes, others that were negatively affected by the September 2023 helpful content update have shown signs of improvement. Although these sites have not fully recovered, they have experienced surges in ranking and visibility within Google Search.
Glenn Gabe, an SEO consultant, has been tracking several hundred sites that were negatively impacted by the September content update. He noticed that 47 of these sites have seen some small signs of life since the August core update began rolling out. Some sites have low visibility but have experienced a spike with the update, while others have shown greater visibility and are surging back nicely.
Two popular sites, House Fresh and Retro Dodo, which received media attention for their ranking issues in Google, have also commented on the changes they are seeing. While they are not fully recovered, they have noticed some movement and are hopeful that the trend continues.
However, it is important to note that these observations are still early, as the core update has only been rolled out for a few days, and there are still a few more weeks to go. Additionally, the ongoing ranking bug may be impacting the observed changes. It is too soon to determine the direction of this update, whether it will improve, worsen, or remain the same. Further monitoring and reporting will be necessary to fully understand the effects of this Google algorithm update.
Overall, it is hoped that this update will bring success and improvements to websites affected by previous core updates. The SEO community will continue to closely watch and analyze the changes as they unfold.
