Google has begun rolling out the third core update for the year, the November 2024 core update. This update started to roll out on November 11, 2024 at around 3:30 pm and will take about two weeks to complete rolling out. This seems like a typical core update, without any new specifics about what changed or what improved.
We knew this update was coming - and it finally arrived yesterday afternoon. Google also told us not to expect HCU victim sites to recover with this update.
So far, we are seeing some folks suggest their rankings went down even more. But the vast majority of people are saying they are not seeing movement as of yet, as of the time I published this story. Of course, I will keep track of the chatter and let you know what people are seeing over the coming days. In addition, the volatility tracking tools are mostly all showing normal volatility - so maybe this has not kicked in as of yet.
And yes, it was released on the Veterans Day US holiday, but it seems like it was released well before the big holiday shopping season, post-Thanksgiving holiday.
Google posted this update on LinkedIn and X and wrote:
Today we released the November 2024 core update to Google Search.This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.
We'll update our ranking release history page in the near future, and update it when the rollout is complete. For more information about core updates, please see here.
The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
Google November 2024 Core Update Quick Facts:
Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:
- Name: Google November 2024 Broad Core Update
- Launched: November 11, 2024 at around 3:30 pm ET
- Rollout: Will take about two weeks to roll out
- Targets: It looks at all types of content
- Penalty: It is not a penalty, it promotes or rewards great web pages
- Global: This is a global update impacting all regions, in all languages.
- Impact: The normal core update stuff around helpful content.
- Discover: Core updates impact Google Discover and other features, also feature snippets and more.
- Recover: If you were hit by this, then you will need to look at your content and see if you can do better with Google's core update advice.
- Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to this algorithm but may not communicate those updates in the future. Maybe this is what we saw the past couple of weeks or all those unconfirmed Google updates.
Google November 2024 Core Update Details
Google didn't say much specific about this November 2024 core update. Google did say, "This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search."
So it seems like it is more of the same:
- Show more content that people find genuinely useful.
- Show less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.
Yes, a lot of joking in the SEO community about these statements. Yep, it sounds a lot like the helpful content update statements... Yes, the helpful content update is no more, it's part of core updates now, in some sense...
Previous Broad Core Updates
Here is a list of the most recent core updates we've seen since Google started to confirm them. Previously we nicknamed them Phantom updates or unconfirmed updates.
- November 2024 Core update: November 11, 2024 and will take about two weeks to roll out.
- August 2024 Core Update : August 15, 2024 through September 3, 2024
- March 2024 Core Update : March 5, 2024 through April 19, 2024
- November 2023 Core Update : November 2, 2023 through November 28, 2023
- October 2023 Core Update: October 5, 2023 through October 19, 2023
- August 2023 Core Update: August 22, 2023 through September 7, 2023
- March 2023 Core Update: March 15, 2023 through March 28, 2023
- September 2022 Core Update: September 12, 2022 through September 26, 2022
- May 2022 Core Update: May 25, 2022 through June 9, 2022
- November 2021 Core Update: November 17, 2021 through November 30, 2021
- July 2021 Core Update: July 1, 2021 through July 12, 2021
- June 2021 Core Update: June 2, 2021 through June 12, 2021
- December 2020 Core Update: December 3, 2020 through December 16, 2020
- May 2020 Core Update: May 4, 2020 through May 18, 2020
- January 2020 Core Update: January 13, 2020 through mostly January 17, 2020
- September 2019 Core Update: September 24, 2019
- Google June 2019 Core Update: June 3, 2019 through June 8, 2019
Previous Helpful Content Update Impact
Here is the list of the previous Google helpful content updates:
- Septemebr 14, 2023 - September 2023 Google helpful content update - completing on Septmeber 28, 2023
- December 5, 2022 - December 2022 Google helpful content update, completing on January 12, 2023
- August 25, 2022 - August 2022 (original) Google helpful content update, completing on September 9, 2022
Previous Unconfirmed Updates
We had a ton of unconfirmed updates between the August 2024 and November 2024 core update. I won't list them all, but you can scan them over here.
As a reminder, Google did tell us that an search update is coming soon. The last time we reported on an update was when I named it the Google Election 2024 unconfirmed update and before that was the Google Halloween 2024 Google search update and then before that on October 23, 24 and 26 and 27th and before that, October 19th and 20th volatility and then on October 15th, October 10th and then before that on October 2nd which lasted a couple of days. The Google August 2024 core update started on August 15th and officially completed on September 3rd. But it was still super volatile the day after it completed and also weeks after it completed and it has not cooled.
We saw big signals on and around September 6th, September 10th or so and maybe around September 14th. We also saw movement around September 18th, last weekend and Septmeber 25th and September 28th or so.
Google Tracking Tools On November 2024 Core Update (So Far)
Here is what these Google Search volatility tools are showing so far; keep in mind that this update can take about two weeks to fully roll out. And so far, the tools are mostly showing normal volatility but that might change in the coming days.
SEO Chatter
It just started rolling out last night, so the chatter is early, just like the tools:
Just the reminder I needed to "focus on quality content"—again. Thanks, Google, I’d almost forgotten!
So by quality, do you mean similar to what previous core updates focused on or is there a specific change to look out for?
In search of "quality" and "usefulness" in the age of generative-AI-driven SERPs.
It will take 2 weeks to complete and 2 years to recover?Asking for friends.
Fasten your seatbelts, Google has launched the November 2024 core update.
This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on SearchGood luck to the people still fighting.
Traffic on the very low tide since a week (billable visits), impression seem stable according search console, CTR dropping.Luckily I’m busy with something not Google related !
Traffic Down :)
Swings on my personal results have been wild over last few days actually. Like normal, but on steroids!
Searched 150+ queries since morning unrelated to my niche...each of these queries were answered by AIO in a very organized form. So...worth not keeping hopes after this
It's been very quiet over the last few days. One article of mine gained a small bit of traction, but a couple of others barely saw any traffic at all. Not sure if it's the same for others.
Recently the fluctuations were too great. Either business as usual or downward. I am seeing more PAA boxes. More YouTube at the top. Other than that I do not see much.
Just more downward movement ಠ︵ಠ
Yes, lots of keywords back on page one, including some near the top, but I doubt it will result in a traffic increase because there are AIOs everywhere.
It's just a mess. shuffling, even more AI overviews for shopping comparison articles.
Also some local SEO chatter, and core updates do impact local rankings:
Seeing movements this early for local organic ranking for the following sectors (mostly Canada): Landscaping, HVAC, Psychologist, local furniture maker, renovation contractors.Here we go! The November 2024 broad core update is rolling out. There's been a ton of volatility since the August core update completed. Let's see what Google has in store for us. Stay tuned. I'll probably share my "Core Update Notes" each day based on what I'm seeing in the… https://t.co/T9rks7tAMP
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) November 11, 2024OK here we go. A new Google core update just launched.
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) November 11, 2024
If you were impacted by a previous core update (i.e. August, March, November, October) then often it takes another core update, or sometimes a few, before a site sees recovery.
🤞 https://t.co/7XHVWBRbboThese announcements are as much as uninteresting as uninformative.
— Pedro Dias (@pedrodias) November 11, 2024
“Hey, look! We did something” https://t.co/BcK4rzTuN6Golly, I hope Reddit will be ok
— Harad (@harad) November 11, 2024Good luck, folks!
— Wesley Copeland (@Wesley_Copeland) November 11, 2024
Not expecting anything this end, mostly because I only fully finished my site move around seven minutes ago. 😂 https://t.co/MGfUyA9GOPSad state when my first thought is: "wonder what they've screwed up this time". https://t.co/jtYZvXPZgM
— Martin MacDonald (@searchmartin) November 11, 2024Also later last night I asked if anyone is seeing movement:
Anyone seeing any movement yet? https://t.co/qttLlYNeU1
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) November 12, 2024While most say it is too early to tell, which I 100% agree with, here are the ones that say they are seeing movement:
I see some movement, but it's hard to attribute it to the typical movements we see or this core update. Will check more sites/data tomorrow morning to confirm.
— Vlad Rappoport (@vladrpt) November 12, 2024It affected my website from yesterday, today zero click, that means this update will harm more than the previous updates. We expecting more damage.
— Ameer Belal (@NFT_Domains) November 12, 2024
I'm afraid to say that, but don't be happy with any update again. Get a new job or go to Pinterest or the new ChatGPT search.Slightly up
— Lizzy's Small World (@AVerySmallWorld) November 12, 2024Yes, ranking down
— बबलू कुमार 🇮🇳 (@seobabloo) November 12, 2024I saw a 15% spike yesterday evening and night. So far this morning it seems the spike didn’t last.
— Brian Spears (@BrianHTX20) November 12, 2024It is probably too early to tell right now but we will keep you posted on what the SEO community is seeing over the coming days.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, Local Search Forum, X and LinkedIn.
