Google’s Helpful Content Update Hasn’t Targeted Hosted Third-Party Content Yet
Recent changes to Google’s content documentation may be familiar to those who closely follow the company’s updates.
According to Barry Schwartz, Google’s helpful content update for September 2023 was rolled out on September 21, 2023.
Recent changes to Google’s content documentation may be familiar to those who closely follow the company’s updates.
However, it’s essential to clarify that these changes in the documentation have not yet been integrated into Google’s live algorithm.
Gary Illyes, a member of the Google Search team, addressed this issue during a PubCon event.
Documentation changes were merely updates in the realm of help documentation, he said. They haven’t been implemented within Google’s helpful content system.
A significant change in the documentation focused on hosted third-party content. Website owners who host third-party content on their main site or subdomain were warned.
The evaluation of the usefulness of content might be affected by such content, according to Google. If such content is largely independent of the main site’s purpose or produced without close oversight or involvement, Google recommends blocking it from being indexed.
The SEO community anticipated that these changes would result in a drop in rankings for third-party content. However, this expectation did not come true. Gary clarified during the event that Google’s live algorithm did not yet incorporate the new guidelines. Although they may be integrated in the future, they have not yet been activated.
It is possible that Google’s documentation does not always reflect its algorithms’ current status. Although the documentation had been updated, the live algorithm had not. Therefore, website owners and SEO practitioners should be cautious when making assumptions about algorithmic changes.
It is important to remember that Google’s algorithms may not always align with its documentation. The documentation was updated, but the live algorithm was not. Documentation changes should not immediately affect algorithmic behavior, SEO practitioners should exercise caution.
