Mastering the March 2024 Google Algorithm Update—The Wisdom Update

Introduction

Google periodically revises its website evaluation criteria—often dramatically. The latest March 2024 Update has been such a dramatic update with some timely updates to Spam policies and a very fundamental change to how Google evaluates “quality.”

This significant shift reflects Google’s focus not only on the authenticity of your content but also on its foundation in real-world application and practical knowledge. These changes herald a new era where genuine, hands-on experience plays a critical role in SEO success, underscoring the importance of being more than just knowledgeable; you must also demonstrate real-world application.

This article aims to demystify the complex changes of this update, making them accessible and actionable. We’ll take it step by step, simplifying the technicalities while focusing on practical strategies for navigating this new SEO landscape that we’re calling “The Wisdom Update.”

Summary

• Introduction of “Experience”: Google’s latest update adds an essential criterion—’Experience’—to its quality assessment guidelines, enhancing the existing E-A-T model to E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). This change emphasizes the importance of real-world knowledge and direct involvement in content creation.
• Stricter Spam Policies: The update introduces tougher measures against common SEO malpractices, including Expired Domain Abuse, Scaled Content Abuse, and Site Reputation Abuse. These policies aim to ensure more authentic and reliable content across the web.
• Impact on Content Creators: For SEO professionals and content creators, the update mandates a shift towards high-quality, experience-based content. The emphasis is on genuine, engaging, and useful material that reflects hands-on knowledge and expertise.
• Strategic Content Adjustments: With the new guidelines, the strategy for content development needs reevaluation. The focus should be on producing content that is not only informative but also offers a rich, real-world experience and wisdom to readers.
• Quality as a Long-Term SEO Investment: The update reinforces the idea that investing in high-quality, experiential content will pay off in the long run, providing resilience against future algorithm changes and improving overall digital presence and credibility.

Watch A Companion Video to this Article

The Two-Part March 2024 Google Algorithm Update

By all interpretations, including Google’s, this update was “more complex than usual.”

It involved a qualitative update to how Google assesses the quality of content on websites by adding “Experience” to their EAT criteria; as well as more additions to the spam policy. If we can judge by the extensive change to all of Google’s documentation regarding this matter, we can guess that these changes are going to create waves.

In general, these updates are a timely response to AI’s impact on content creation as well as a much needed update to spam measures, and they’re already having a big effect.

The 2024 Updated Spam Policy

The additions to the Spam policy are all straightforward on the surface, though they have some definite far-reaching implications which, in our opinion, are awesome.

These spam policies are in response to trendy new spamming techniques we’re all aware of on some level or another: Expired Domain Abuse, Scaled Content Abuse, and Site Reputation Abuse.

1. Expired Domain Abuse

Expired Domain Abuse is a significant facet of Google’s latest SEO update. This malpractice involves the manipulation of SEO rankings through the use of old or abandoned domain names. Malicious actors often repurpose these domains—once reputable and possessing strong SEO metrics—to host irrelevant or low-quality content, effectively piggybacking on their established credibility to gain unwarranted search engine visibility.

Google’s crackdown on this tactic is straightforward yet impactful, reflecting its commitment to ensuring that search results remain relevant and trustworthy. The updated policies now penalize this abuse more severely, protecting users from misleading content and preserving the integrity of search results. This change underscores the importance of legitimate domain use and the need for content that genuinely reflects the domain’s history and authority.

2. Scaled Content Abuse

“Scaled Content Abuse is when many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating Search rankings and not helping users… [and] our new policy is meant to help people focus more clearly on the idea that producing content at scale is abusive if done for the purpose of manipulating search rankings and that this applies whether automation or humans are involved.” 

“This abusive practice is typically focused on creating large amounts of unoriginal content that provides little to no value to users, no matter how it’s created” (ibid.) whether by humans or by generative AI. This new guidance is a response to the incredible amount of content being produced by Artificial Intelligence; but, interestingly, it is just greater clarification on the Panda Update from 2011 when Content Farms were doing the same thing. 

Interpretation and Implications of Scaled Content Abuse on Content Creation 

Scaled Content Abuse is a significant concern for Google and for all Content Creators. Google’s revised policy on this issue is a clarion call for authenticity and user-focused content creation.

The abuse often manifests in the creation of vast amounts of repetitive, unoriginal content.

Consider the scenario where an SEO company regularly posts generic articles on a client’s plumbing website under their byline. That is, on this plumbing website, you’re likely to see an article that was written by AI and posted by a SEO company. These posts, often penned by AI without real oversight, provide minimal value to actual readers. Instead of enriching the user’s understanding of plumbing—what kind of hand’s-on experience does an SEO company using AI have with plumbing?—they serve merely to boost SEO metrics artificially.

This strategy not only dilutes the quality of the site but also jeopardizes its reputation (see below). When these practices are flagged under the new spam policies, it is not just the SEO company that faces repercussions; the client’s website suffers a significant drop in ranking and, consequently, visibility. This update compels a shift towards content that is both valuable and relevant, ensuring that digital efforts translate into genuine user engagement and trust.

3. Site Reputation Abuse

“Site Reputation Abuse is when third-party pages are published with little or no first-party oversight or involvement, where the purpose is to manipulate Search rankings by taking advantage of the first-party site’s ranking signals. Such third-party pages include sponsored, advertising, partner, or other third-party pages that are typically independent of a host site’s main purpose or produced without close oversight or involvement of the host site, and provide little to no value to users.”

This policy has less to do with Content Creation than with how it is displayed—a matter of User Interface / User Experience, or “how the web page is designed.” We can combine it with some additional Google Guidance from the manual to paint a more complete picture:

“If the Main Content is deliberately obstructed or obscured due to Ads, Secondary Content, interstitial pages, download links or other content that is beneficial to the website owner but not necessarily the website visitor.  Attempts to manipulate or coerce users away from the MC is evidence of untrustworthiness.” (User Guidelines, section 4.5.4) and an example of this is, “ Ads that continue to cover the MC as the website visitor scrolls down the page.  The Ads are virtually impossible to close without clicking on the Ad.” (ibid.)

<h5> Interpreting the new Site Reputation Abuse Policy

Site Reputation Abuse is a nuanced issue addressed in the latest Google update, targeting practices where third-party content on a website, such as sponsored ads or partner pages, manipulates search rankings. This type of abuse occurs when such content, often created with little oversight from the main site’s operators, exploits the host site’s SEO metrics to boost visibility undeservedly.

Consider the example of major online news platforms swamped with ads that are nearly impossible to close without interaction. These ads not only degrade the user experience but also, under the new guidelines, jeopardize the site’s search ranking. The principle behind this policy is straightforward: if a website allows third-party content to obscure its main content (MC) or manipulates users away from it, Google views this as an abuse of the site’s reputation.

The implications are significant and some large sites that were using this strategy have already had significant blowback from this change. Websites that fail to manage or adequately supervise third-party content risk not only a poor user experience but also a direct hit to their credibility and search engine rankings. The updated policy encourages websites to prioritize user experience and maintain control over all content published under their domain, ensuring it adds value and aligns with their core purposes.

Adding a New “E”: Changing how we think of “Quality”

The inclusion of “Experience” as a new criterion in Google’s E-E-A-T framework marks a transformative shift in how we assess content quality. This additional “E” stands not just for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, but now also for Experience—requiring content to demonstrate real-world application and direct insight from the content creator.

Experience as a metric challenges us to consider not only the factual accuracy of content but also the tangible depth of the content creator’s personal involvement and understanding of the topic. This shift recognizes the evolving landscape of digital content, particularly in response to the mass production of low-quality, AI-generated material. It pushes content creators to provide more than just information—they must now share experiences that are both informative and genuinely engaging.

By elevating “Experience” to a cornerstone of content evaluation, Google aims to ensure that digital spaces offer more than superficial knowledge. This approach intends to foster an internet that rewards content which is not only well-researched but also rich with personal insight and practical application, thereby enhancing the overall user experience and reliability of information online: A Wisdom update, indeed. 

What is E-E-A-T and Where Does it Come From?

EEAT—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—are some of Google’s core principles for evaluating websites Content. When we talk about dreaded changes to “the Algorithm,” these are the guiding principles Google has been evolving since 2003. 

Google has been focused on delivering more relevant results to its users—namely, everybody—since the beginning. And while these updates are all pretty cool, spoiler alert, if you simply focus on quality you can skip most of this article. Yep. The whole trick is just doing your best. Fancy that. 

But back in 2011, there was a major problem with Content Farms pumping out a ridiculous amount of nearly useless content. In fact, replace “content farms” with “artificial intelligence” and you have the gist of the modern problem; and on more than one level, too. 

Timeline of Significant SEO Changes

Since you’re probably not an SEO professional, you may not be hip to all of the major “Updates to the Algorithm” that have happened over the last 20 years. Here’s a quick summary to help give you a sense of where we are and how we got here:

2024 — The Wisdom Update — Why Google Added ‘Experience’

This addition is a clever and considerate response to Scaled Content and other practices we’re all familiar with—One of our particular favorites are the Gen-Z twenty-somethings offering “Executive Coaching” to 40-somethings using sales pitches from the 90’s. Bless them. But, given how easy it is to create content that at least looks high quality, it may be hard to tell that they’re bogus at a glance, just like the Ab Roller’s 30-day-money-back-guarantee. #90skids  

The Immediate Implications of E-E-A-T for SEO

Taken together with the new Spam Policies, the new Experience Qualifier means that content is going back to the Content Creators. Take the example of the SEO-company whose, now debunked, strategy to post their plumber’s website with their own byline. As mentioned earlier, what a waste! Who are they writing to? 

Search Engines, that’s who. Mass produced content written by AI guided by an SEO Company about plumbing (or anything they couldn’t possibly have sufficient experience with) could only serve the SEO Company. This is bots writing for bots. How ridiculous! 

The implication here is that there are going to be significant changes to how content is produced across the internet whether by the creators themselves or by people creating on behalf of others. The ripples are already starting. For example, it will no longer be possible to hand off Content Creation to an inexperienced 3rd party.

People with first hand experience on the topic must be involved. 

Raising the Bar for Content Quality:
The EEAT Paradigm Shift

This is a valuable change in the way we as society will work with content.

Perhaps to everyone who was jumping on the AI train it might seem like a bit of a drag. But, we promise, you still get to use AI—and in more creative ways, too: Simply put, as long as AI is being used as an assistant, and not as a replacement, all is well. 

You see, aside from the overall pew-pewing of negative practices, there is a great deal of language in this wave of Google updates that talks about “rewards” every here and there that bespeaks good things to come for those that focus on quality. 

Here’s one of the best paragraphs, ever:
“The unifying theme for evaluating the quality of the [Main Content] is the extent to which the MC allows the page to achieve its purpose and offers a satisfying user experience.  For most pages, the quality of the MC can be determined by the amount of  effort, originality ,and talent or skill  that went  into the creation of the content.  For informational pages and pages on [Your Money or Your Life] topics, accuracy and consistency with well established expert consensus is important… Consider the extent to which a human being actively worked to create satisfying content. “ (Section 3.2 Guidelines)

The bottom line is that automation isn’t a crime—it’s the future!—but automating things as they’ve already been done in the past (see the timeline of major google updates above) you’re just repeating errors of the past… but with AI. 

There is a lot of consideration in this documentation for keeping “talented and skilled” content creators employed. Talented and skilled content creators are the ones that are going to learn to augment and enhance their skills with AI Assistants and automations that make their time more focused and productive.  

Your Money or Your Life (YMYL)

This is important:

If the bar has been raised for the average person posting, then the bar for the professionals in areas deemed “Your Money or Your Life” is outlandish. 

Adjusting SEO and Content Strategies for the Update

This change represents a significant change in how Google does things. The acronym we’ve had for awhile was EAT, which was cool, but seemed to be missing something. The Documentation has a Venn Diagram of this new model that made it all click. (We animated it as a lottie.)  

When you don’t have “experience” you run into the problems of the present, lots of content with little-to-no real world application. But now that we have some wisdom guiding us, along with the new spam policies, and all of the updated documentation, we have a completely new way of doing things that is human-centric, but demanding when it comes to the quality of your content.  

MORE Involvement From Leadership

“The quality of the Main Content plays a very large role in the Page Quality rating of a webpage.” (Section 2.4.4 Guidelines) which means the amount of attention you need to pay to your Main Content just went up.

The key here is more involvement, not less.

Remember: mass producing things at scale, whether by outsourcing to person or artificial intelligence, without your involvement, expertise, and oversight will now be penalized. Whether you’re an individual, small business, or enterprise—you cannot fully outsource any content to a human without hands-on experience.

Long Term Strategy: Quality as a Long-term Investment

That last paragraph is going to be expensive and require discipline.

Not the “long-term quality part.” You can (and should) hire Content Creating professionals, such as yours truly, to assist you in Creating your high quality content. An incredible tool in the hands of an incredible builder or creator is a valuable asset, indeed. Highly skilled content creators will be able to use AI to streamline every part of content production to make the actual building of high-quality content more readily available.

But the point here is that the builder or content creator or SEO professional will only be able to offer so much help in the realm of experience and expertise in your field. 

Remember the plumber and the SEO Company in the fable above? Well, let’s look how the  might reorganize their efforts for success: The SEO Company will still help create, optimize, and post content but the basis of that content will have to be their client’s direct, demonstrable, experience and involvement.  

THAT’S the expensive part. Yeah. This means that business owners, individuals, CEOs and every other expert in-between are going to have to take time from their day to actually spend time on said content.

The call for more involvement from leadership is echoed in more than just content creation: You’ve probably heard your HR folks telling you the exact same thing. Weird. Sounds like a two-birds-one-stone opportunity to us. (You know: share your wisdom and experience with your team and the world in one fell swoop. Take that, productivity!)

Artificial Intelligence is Incredible

The question here isn’t whether you’re going to use Artificial Intelligence to make your content. Of course you are.

This means that, if we’re not allowed to replace ourselves with AI automations and sleep in till 11 every day, that we need to use AI at every step of the way to enhance our individual abilities.

Of course THAT means, if everyone is using it to enhance their individual abilities, the rise to the level of society will be exponential, implying that individuals will have access to tools that can significantly enhance “quality” at every level of production. 

AI for Leadership

Your highest level performers, CEOs, top talent, business owners, and entrepreneurs just had a whole bunch of time free up, and Google—who is the authority on search, no matter what is happening with AI right now—has said it is categorically imperative that these folks use some of their newly freed time to be directly involved in sharing their experiences and accumulated wisdom.

AI for Content Creators

On the other hand, for Content Creators, this means that we need to be raising the bar at every step of the way. It’s a lot of discipline and it’s pretty tough to maintain, especially if you’re creating content on behalf of one of the above mentioned experts to free-up time for you can be like herding cats.

As for CEO’s and the experts of the world, it’s best to just resign yourself to the fact that your hired content creators will be now assigning YOU homework.

The Value of Quality: Opportunity Cost, Algorithm Update Resilience, Brand Reputation and Trust

At this point, the thing you’re probably asking yourself is “how much is all of this going to cost?” 

And the answer to that is, and you don’t wanna hear it, is “what’s it worth to ya?”

Opportunity Cost

This cost is one of the easier ones to demonstrate. Opportunity cost is that thing you learned about in Econ 101 where you look at the value of the next-best-alternative to help you determine the price of a given good or service. In brief:

• Determine your primary keyword(s),
• Determine your primary keywords(s) cost per click (CPC),
• Multiply the CPC by 500. 
• This number is the opportunity cost of the Content Creator you could be hiring instead of a PPC campaign.

So, for example, say you’re that plumber. The CPC of the term “plumber” is $21.29 (SEM Rush, 5/2/2024… and, ouch!). Companies that offer Pay Per Click campaigns recommend a commitment of at least 500 clicks per month to create a return.

$21.29 CPC x 500 Clicks = $10,645 per 500 clicks

This is the opportunity cost of purchasing the services of an organic content creator. 

So just to be clear, in this instance, you could purchase 500 clicks on google for $10,645 per month (which disappear) OR you could spend $10,645 per month on some high quality content which is yours forever.

Algorithm Update Resilience 

When you focus your budget on high quality content, especially well researched stuff with a wealth of first-hand experience, it becomes a long-term asset that generates organic clicks over time and gains some resilience over future algorithm updates. 

The latter is because, while Google is always adapting to shady tactics that evolve with technology, their overall goal of getting information to the people who need it has never changed. So, like we said at the beginning: if you just focus on quality you can skip most of the article. If you align your content with high quality ideals, even your mistakes will be better off than the shady site’s best day. 

Brand Recognition and Trust

The real goal here is brand recognition. To become the go-to site for [blank]. 

Let’s jump back to that opportunity cost:

Say your entire marketing budget is $10,645. In this simplified universe it can go to either Cost Per Click or High Quality Content Marketing. Imagine you dropped 5k per month on an article, with all the bells and whistles—expert voices, custom branded pictures and infographics, photos, videos, and everything else. After a year you will have at least twelve articles and a whole bunch of Brand Assets to use in the future.  

That budget might not be enough to make a significant wave in social media following initially, but over time, you’ll see a result as you accumulate data. People will begin to associate your brand with quality and information. We’ve been doing it for years now, check out a case study where we take an industry expert’s brain and turn it into delicious, delicious organic clicks. 

Ironically, over time, if you spend the other half of that 10k on CPC, imagine that the people coming to your site via the PPC pipeline are now coming to a place which also has a growing wealth of information on the topic they’re interested in.

If they start “clicking around,” you’ve just earned organic “SEO-umph” from an inorganic click. Point being that HQCM supports PPC campaigns by raising the level of the site. 

Winning the Organic Lottery

Then, there’s always the chance you hit pay-dirt. Say you’ve changed your strategy. Your producing High Quality Content monthly. That means you’re using an SEO strategy plus some predictive analytics (which is a fun task for AI, by the way) to come up with content topics. You’re guiding your content both by the predictive and solid understanding of the traffic coming to your site through Google Search Console and Google Analytics. You’re creating high-quality content that is made for people.

Based on the information they’re feeding you, you write an article to fulfill the need—i.e. Answer the question the keywords are getting at. 

If that article hits the mark, you become the go-to person answering that question. Alluvthesudden, your well-meaning article produced with your best effort, whatever that is, is #1 in the charts. You’ve become the go-to person to answer that question. 

That type of article has staying power.

The High Quality Content Strategy In Action

Imagine you were that plumber above, and you’ve scrapped your old SEO strategy. There’s an update in technology somewhere, and now you can buy copper piping for pennies. You write the article about the new technique, using it as an opportunity to learn the new technique and write something only you as an expert in your field with lots of experience, can write. You’re way ahead of the curve. Other plumbers are still talking about normal copper. You just become an “authority.” 

People will continue to click on that article as long as it is considered ‘current,’ and they will come back to you to solve more problems in the future. 

So you generate organic clicks as long as the article is current, you establish yourself as an authority, you generate a long term asset, and you learn about a new thing that makes you better at your job. Read a case study about how we’ve applied exactly this strategy here.  

Conclusion

The way that content is being evaluated has drastically changed, basically overnight. AI has changed everything and leveled the playing field: The very definition of “quality” has changed. 

This article isn’t about “not using AI,” but instead “wisely using AI to enhance your abilities at every step of the road.” Was AI used to produce this article? You bet your sweet behind it was. It was used to enhance every step along the road.

This High Quality article was an opportunity for us to learn and process a whole bunch of new information (i.e. continuing education) that is going to be vital for this industry and for our line of work in particular. AI was used at every step of the way to extend the reach of the human author far beyond what would have been possible even a year ago.

You see, this update is all about Wisdom: Using your time wisely, using AI wisely, and—above all—sharing your wisdom and experience with the world just became the name of the game.