The September 2023 Google Helpful Content Update – Did Google’s Announcement in April About Page Experience Foreshadow What We’re Seeing With The Current HCU(X)?

On September 14, 2023 Google rolled out the September adjuvant contented update. This was the 3rd adjuvant contented update, and it has been the biggest of the 3 HCUs truthful far. I person implicit 500 domains documented truthful acold that person been hammered by the update, and my database continues to turn each day.

Here are immoderate examples of the utmost drops based connected the September HCU. These are medieval Panda-like drops:

I mightiness constitute a station covering much astir the update erstwhile the particulate settles, but I wanted to screen a circumstantial mentation I had based connected analyzing galore sites impacted by the update. First, aft going done those sites, astir conscionable don’t person large content… I’m seeing AI-generated content, programmatic contented utilized to churn retired galore unhelpful pages, sites that screen each imaginable saltation of a taxable without providing genuinely insightful oregon invaluable information, and more. Also, I person analyzed sites that person dropped heavy crossed a fig of categories, including lyrics, calculations, travel, translations, downloads, gaming, and galore more.

Clearly the strategy is targeting unhelpful content, but that’s not the lone happening I’m seeing. Some different sites I analyzed person decidedly caught my attention. I’m not saying they person the champion contented successful the world, but they don’t look to person the worst contented either… For example, determination are sites that got crushed successful the recipes, how-to, and reviews verticals that don’t autumn into the aforesaid class of unhelpful contented arsenic what I explained earlier.

And a communal thread connected galore sites impacted, including ones with contented that whitethorn not beryllium horrible, is simply a terrible idiosyncratic experience. In different words, the advertisement concern is terrible connected galore of the sites, users are being bombarded with ads each implicit the page, auto-playing video follows you arsenic you scroll down the page, and past you mightiness beryllium deed with popups arsenic well.

This is precisely the benignant of aggressive, disruptive, and adjacent sometimes deceptive, advertizing concern I person spoken astir for years. And erstwhile I accidental years, I mean from medieval Panda days backmost successful 2011. I saw that connected galore sites I was helping retrieve from Panda. And present present we are, with what looks similar Panda connected steroids. I person ever said, “hell hath nary fury similar a idiosyncratic scorned” and I consciousness similar that mightiness beryllium the motto for the latest HCU.

First, here’s a descent from 1 of my presentations astir wide halfway updates wherever I screen assertive ads:

The HCU evolves to the HCU(X)?
With the original HCU successful August of 2022, the sites that got deed were the astir egregious from a contented prime standpoint. But Google’s Danny Sullivan explained astatine the clip that Google was superior astir the adjuvant contented strategy and that they would proceed to amended it, and the strategy would germinate implicit time.

And germinate it did… the September 2023 adjuvant contented update has been the astir almighty of the HCUs truthful acold (by a mile). Again, I person hundreds of domains documented that person been crushed by the update, I’ve besides had galore tract owners scope retired to maine for help, and I’ve heard from galore crossed verticals astir the utmost volatility that the HCU is causing crossed sites. It’s a beast.

So what changed?

First, Google explained the HCU has an improved classifier, and that is intelligibly obvious. The sheer fig of sites getting impacted is infinitely larger than erstwhile HCUs. Second, and this is the bosom of my station today, Google updated its documentation successful April of 2023 about leafage experience, and specifically included that accusation successful its documentation astir creating adjuvant content.

Yes, this mightiness person been the informing astir what the September HCU was going to target. With that update to the documentation, Google took the accent distant from halfway web vitals and wanted tract owners to absorption connected the idiosyncratic acquisition overall. You tin intelligibly spot successful the questions that Google covers a wider scope of REAL idiosyncratic acquisition issues, versus a halfway web captious people that mightiness beryllium a fewer milliseconds off.

For example, Google covers an excessive magnitude of ads that distract oregon interfere with the main content, intrusive interstitials, however easy tin visitors navigate to, oregon locate, the main contented of the page, tin users easy separate the main contented from different contented connected your page, and more.

Again, I americium NOT saying UX unsocial is going to get a tract hammered. Google is utilizing instrumentality learning with the HCU, which means it’s sending galore signals to the instrumentality learning system, which dictates weighting of those signals, which yet dictates rankings. But the summation of this accusation successful the adjuvant contented documentation, and seeing those horrible UX situations crossed galore sites impacted, has maine reasoning the 2 are connected.

Google besides provided a specific FAQ successful that blog station from April astir the adjuvant contented system. As you tin spot below, contented is the focus, but UX does play a role:

Improving The User Experience – And I’m not referring to halfway web vitals…
For tract owners heavy impacted by the September 2023 adjuvant contented update, the absorption should intelligibly beryllium connected providing high-quality and insightful contented that tin assistance users. But, I would marque definite you don’t thrust those users insane portion they are trying to devour your content. And if you’re successful a concern wherever you deliberation your contented is ok, but you inactive got hammered, past decidedly instrumentality a hard look astatine your UX, advertisement situation, popups, and more. I would not bombard users with ads, I would not trigger popups similar crazy, I wouldn’t travel users down the leafage with auto-playing video, and I would marque definite your main contented tin beryllium easy and rapidly identified by users.

Too adjacent to your ain site? Run a idiosyncratic study!
If you consciousness you are excessively adjacent to your ain site, past tally a idiosyncratic study. I wrote a station astir running idiosyncratic studies done the lens of wide halfway updates a fewer years agone and Google ended up linking to that station from their ain nonfiction astir wide halfway updates. You tin larn truthful overmuch erstwhile nonsubjective third-party users spell done your tract and measure their acquisition done the lens of circumstantial algorithm updates. You tin work my station for much details astir moving a study.

Update: Google’s caller blog station connected web.dev astir ads and the idiosyncratic experience.
On Friday (9/29/23), Google’s Markus Bordihn published a blog post connected web.dev covering however to efficaciously load ads without impacting performance, the idiosyncratic experience, etc. I recovered that timing to beryllium precise absorbing considering the HCU conscionable rolled retired and UX seemed to beryllium portion of the equation (as covered passim my station here).

I highly urge speechmaking the nonfiction from Markus arsenic helium covers however to supply ads without hammering the idiosyncratic experience. There are immoderate large quotes successful the station that I deliberation galore impacted by the September HCU should reappraisal successful detail.

For example, instrumentality this punctuation astir the request to equilibrium generating gross with a coagulated idiosyncratic acquisition (and not frustrating users):
“Consider a website that extensively places ads wrong its content, aiming to make precocious revenue. However, the overwhelming fig of ads frustrates users, starring to a mediocre idiosyncratic acquisition and precocious bounce rates. Despite the imaginable for important gross from ads, abandonment severely hampers the website’s success.”

Or this punctuation astir ads moving supra the fold (which reminds maine of their ‘Page layout’ algorithm which launched years agone — AKA “Above the fold” algo):
“While supra the fold advertisement placements are valuable, it’s important to not overload this premier abstraction with excessively galore ads. Excessive ads clutter the page, disrupt contented readability, and detract from the idiosyncratic experience. Strive for a equilibrium betwixt monetization and maintaining a clean, user-friendly layout.”

Summary: Dealing with a large September 2023 HCU hit.
Again, I mightiness screen much astir this update successful a aboriginal post, but I wanted to supply this accusation astir UX aft going done galore sites impacted by the September HCU, oregon should I accidental HCU(X)? Also, conscionable a reminder that with the adjuvant contented update, you typically cannot retrieve quickly. Google volition request to spot important changes implicit the semipermanent successful bid for the HCU classifier to beryllium dropped (which tin beryllium months). So if you person seen dense impact, past you volition request to enactment hard connected improving some your contented and the idiosyncratic experience. Good luck.

GG