Search Engine Recap - Week 33 (2024)

This week brought several noteworthy developments, including a new core update from Google, AI overviews expanding to more countries, and a ranking glitch. Here is an overview.

Google Rolls Out New Core Update

Google has officially released its 'August 2024 Core Update,' targeting low-quality content while promoting high-quality, user-focused content that genuinely helps people.

The update aims to elevate content that provides real value, while deprioritizing content designed primarily to rank highly in search results. The rollout is expected to take about a month.

Google has also updated its core update guidance with new sections to help webmasters assess and recover from traffic declines.

Key additions include detailed instructions on using Search Console and tips for long-term content improvements.

Google Expands AI Overviews to New Countries

Google has rolled out its AI Overviews to six new countries: the UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil.

This feature, which summarizes search results using AI, now also includes a save option, simplified language settings, and links within the summaries.

Despite Google's claim that these enhancements lead to higher-quality clicks and more time spent on websites, the long-term impact remains uncertain.

YouTube and LinkedIn Favored in AI Overviews

Sticking with AI overviews, a recent study revealed that Google’s AI search overviews have shifted focus, favoring YouTube and LinkedIn results over Reddit, which previously dominated.

These AI-generated summaries now prioritize trusted sources, with YouTube topping the list of linked domains.

At the same time, the length of AI overviews has decreased by 40%, reflecting a trend towards more concise content.

Although Reddit remains popular in general search results, its presence in AI overviews has declined, likely due to numerous cases of misinformation. This suggests that Google is becoming stricter about the content it includes, making it interesting to see how well it distinguishes good from bad content on Reddit going forward.

Google Confirms: Content Velocity Boosts Crawl Activity

Google has confirmed three methods to increase Googlebot’s crawl activity. First, publishing high-quality content that is useful to users can trigger more frequent crawls.

Second, an increase in publishing activity, such as adding new pages, can also lead to more frequent crawling.

Lastly, maintaining consistent content quality is crucial; a drop in quality can result in reduced crawl frequency.

These tips clearly highlight the importance of useful content and high content velocity.

Ranking Glitch Hits Multiple Websites

We wrap up with a Google ranking glitch that has caused significant fluctuations in search results, with many websites experiencing sudden changes in their rankings.

This issue began around August 16, 2024, and has impacted various industries and search terms.

Google has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix. However, this glitch should not be confused with the ongoing core update.

Businesses are advised to monitor their results closely and avoid making hasty adjustments, as the problem may resolve itself once the bug is fixed.

Takeaways and Recommendations

Google dominated the headlines in Week 33 with a new core update and developments in AI overviews.

Once again, the importance of consistently producing high-quality content to remain visible to customers was underscored. This is evident both in the core update and Google’s confirmed methods to increase crawl activity.

Additionally, new countries were added to AI Overviews, aligning with Google’s plan for global rollout. It’s also interesting to see how YouTube and LinkedIn are taking more space in AI search results globally, balancing Reddit's presence.

As always, it will be exciting to follow the developments next week—and equally critical to adapt strategies for businesses aiming to stay visible.

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