Following its link spam update, Google intensifies its efforts to reduce the visibility of low-quality sites in its rankings.
On November 3rd, Google announced the rollout of a new algorithm update designed to reduce the presence of low-quality web pages in its search results:
“As part of our regular work to improve results, we’ve released a spam update in our systems. This November 2021 spam update will roll out fully over the next week at most. We encourage websites to continue following our best practices for Search.”
https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1456030857186226181?s=20
The tweet didn’t specify which aspect of search the update targets, linking only to the general Search guidelines for webmasters. However, Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, clarified that:
Spam updates deal with content that doesn’t follow our guidelines.
Core updates are simply a refresh of how we assess content in general.
Many believe this update improves Google’s ability to recognize websites with thin or low-quality content — sites often created with the sole aim of capturing traffic. Google classifies these as “spam websites.” They typically feature poorly written or nonsensical text stuffed with keywords — a practice known as keyword stuffing — in an attempt to rank for those terms.
The full effects were expected to emerge over the following week. By pointing to its general webmaster guidelines, Google was reminding site owners of the importance of creating unique, high-quality content designed to be genuinely useful — not just to avoid search penalties, but to improve the experience for anyone who lands on your site.
Photo by Niclas Illg on Unsplash
