.png){kind=logo}
Just earlier this month many suspected that Google had run an unconfirmed search ranking update. That was around the 13th of October. Now, just a couple of weeks later, we’re wondering if Google will strike again.
On Twitter, many SEOs are noticing the impacts of the previous updates, like Google’s October 2022 Spam Update, Search Engine Roundtable reports. For some, the impacts are significant and it has people wondering if theres another one on the way, or maybe its already in motion.
What Is A Search Ranking Algorithm Update?
With so many updates, its important to get back to the basics and review what a search ranking algorithm update is. Basically, in order to quickly provide the most relevant results for a query, Google uses a sophisticated set of algorithms to retrieve information from its search index.
Back in the day, the search engine only did and algorithm update every now and then. But these days Google is launching more updates than Kellogs has got cornflakes.
In a nutshell, on its search engine results pages, Google ranks websites according to relevance. To do this they use a variety of algorithms and ranking parameters (SERPs), Search Engine Journal explains.
As for the hum about October 28th, there’s no definitive answer as to which kind of algorithm update was impacting sites.
Here’s was popular SEO expert Glenn Gabe noticed with regards to the site impacts.
And here are some other sites seeing a lot of movement based on the 10/28 update. They were also heavily impacted by the September broad core update. I’m still digging in, but again, a BIG heads-up that something rolled out 10/28 that looks significant. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/TbG7gUs8Vr — Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) October 31, 2022
Previous Confirmed Updates
As we’ve said, Google loves doing algorithm updates but its hard to tell what specific update could be causing impacts on users’ sites.
Over the past 6 months we’ve seen a bunch of updates rollout. Just as the summer ended, August 2022 Helpful content update was launched. While in the fall, the September 2022 Broad Core Update and the September 2022 Products Review Update took the main stage.
Just last month we saw Google launch its most recent Spam update since 2021. Some SEOs who believe this update lines of up with the October 2022 Spam update, pinpointing is still difficult.
If your site got hit by the October 28th update, see below for some of Google’s advice.
“Sites that see a change after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are complying with those. Making changes may help a site improve if our automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies with our spam policies,” said a statement from Google Search Central.
