Google's March 2024 Core Update Completed: HCU Recoveries, Site Reputation, AI Topics

The Google March 2024 Core Update is a significant update to Google's search algorithms that was completed on April 19th, 2024. Core updates are designed to improve the overall quality and relevance of search results. This update was notable because Google did not announce its completion in a timely manner.

According to Google, it is still possible for sites to recover from the Helpful Content Update. Recovery may take longer than from other updates, and it involves improving the quality of content to ensure it is useful and informative for users. Site owners should focus on creating content that provides value and meets the needs of their audience.

In response to Google's site reputation abuse policy, Forbes took proactive measures by completely removing its coupon sections, using a 410 Server Status to indicate that the content is gone permanently. This action was likely taken to avoid penalties associated with the new policy that targets manipulative or abusive practices affecting site reputation.

Google Ads announced several new features including:

• PMax updates, which is the first new feature announcement in two months.
• The ability to automatically pause low-activity keywords starting next month, which will help advertisers manage their keywords more efficiently.
• A policy to disallow services for deepfake sexual content, enhancing the platform's content guidelines.

Google has made a significant cost reduction for generating Google SGE AI Answers, with the new cost being 80% less than before. This reduction makes it more cost-effective to use Google's AI technology for generating answers.