The Google helpful content update is a change implemented by Google aimed at promoting content that is genuinely useful to users and demoting content that was created primarily for ranking well in search engines without providing real value. It was introduced in September and has since been integrated into Google's core update.

Recovering from the Google helpful content update involves:

• Significant effort and time: Recovery is not about making a simple tweak but requires a lot of work over time.
• Deep analysis: Understanding how to make a website relevant in the modern world is crucial.
• Implementing significant changes: This may involve changing a business's priorities and adapting to new user expectations and web standards.

John Mueller emphasizes that recovery is not about returning to the previous state ('just-as-before') but evolving and growing with the changing web landscape.

Yes, according to John Mueller, sites can grow after being affected by the Google core update, previously known as the helpful content update (HCU). Growth is possible through continuous work, time investment, and adapting to update cycles. However, the growth implies that the site will be different in search results due to the changes made, not simply a return to its former status.

Sites do not recover immediately after a Google core update because:

• Time-consuming changes: Some changes take a long time to build up and be recognized by Google's systems.
• Complex assessments: Google's core updates assess content's helpfulness, reliability, and relevance, which cannot be mapped back to a single tweak on a website.
• Dynamic web environment: The web is constantly changing, including user expectations and other websites, making immediate recovery unrealistic.