Google Announces Helpful Content Update Coming in September

Paylaş :

Google has announced the Helpful Content Update for September 2023, expected to be rolled out in two weeks. This update appears to soften its stance on machine-generated content while warning about third-party content hosted on websites or subdomains. The last update to the helpful content system was made in December 2022.

Additionally, Google has added new information to the Helpful Content System documents, including advice on what to do if a site loses traffic following the Helpful Content update.

What’s New?

Google conveyed, “The September 2023 helpful content update comes with an improved classifier and will take about two weeks to complete. Once the rollout is finished, we will update our ranking version history page.”

Google provided details about new specifics related to helpful content:

New recommendations regarding hosting third-party content and further clarification on what to do after a helpful content system update were added. (Perhaps nothing needs to be done or you don’t need to evaluate your content yourself).

A help page on how to create helpful, trustworthy, and people-first content has been updated with new points about removing content or changing dates.

Google also removed the words “written by people” from search results, now only displaying “helpful content created for people.” This suggests a more accepting stance towards AI-generated content when it’s deemed useful. Here’s a before-and-after screenshot.

before after.png

Google Softens Guidelines on Machine-Generated Content

Google’s previous guidance on machine-generated content emphasized that the Helpful Content system favored content created by people for people in search results.

Previous Guideline:

“Google Search’s helpful content system generates a signal used by our automated ranking systems to help people see more original, useful content written by people for people in search results.”

Updated Guideline:

“Google Search’s helpful content system generates a signal used by our automated ranking systems to help people see more original, useful content created for people in search results.”

Google Helpful Content System

Google has a system called the Helpful Content System aimed at promoting quality content and reducing the search presence of content deemed not useful.

This system works in conjunction with all other systems Google uses to rank websites, focusing primarily on identifying quality signals corresponding to helpful content.

What is the September Helpful Content Update About?

Google updated the Helpful Content System documents on three topics:

Softening the guideline on machine-generated content
Hosting third-party content on subdomains
Providing additional guidance on what to do if your site loses traffic due to the Helpful Content update

What to Do If You Experience Ranking Loss?

Google provided a list of questions you can ask yourself about your content. Ask yourself impartially if your content aligns with this update.

Google shared questions related to creating people-first content:

Do you have an audience that would find your content directly beneficial if it came to your business or site?
Does your content demonstrate that it was written by an expert and reflects a genuine experience (e.g., using a product or service or visiting and describing a place)?
Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
After reading your content, would someone feel informed enough to achieve their purpose on the topic?
Would someone reading your content feel like they had a satisfying experience?
Do you keep in mind our guidance on core updates and product reviews?

If this update affects you, remember that improvements could take several months if you do everything right and make changes to your content over time.