On 2nd June, most webmasters went into a shock because Google did something that they never do- ‘Announce the new Google June 2019 Core Update’. The last time a Google Core Update happen (March 2019), it shook up the entire digital marketing. To say that the March update created an upheaval of sorts would be an understatement.
Google Search Liaison’s Twitter handle did not give any information about the Google June 2019 Core Update. It just announced that it would be rolling out in the next couple of days to various Google data centers all over the world.
This was a new and novel approach taken by Google, which has previously been accused of not being open to the industry. This might be the reason why the head of Google’s Search Liaison team stated on Twitter, that their purpose was to be more communicative of developments.
Google announced its latest algorithm updates for June 2019, which is categorized as a broad core update. In fact, the full picture is not available yet, and here will have a peep into what is known so far.
In fact, it is a bit strange that Google announced an algorithm update as. Usually, it comes without any warning. We can assume that Google started admiring the SEO community by giving an alert that a broad core update is on the way. The note about the update was released on the official Twitter account of Google on June 2.
The new Google June 2019 Core Update has definitely set the cat amongst the pigeons. There is an absence of any tangible information like the previous updates-
- Google Panda Update- Content Quality
- Google Penguin Update- Backlinks
Contents
What is the Google June 2019 Core Update About?
With the new update, Danny Sullivan states that things might not be too unsettled. The central crux of the update will be subtle according to Jan Grundmann from Search Metrics. There is an absence of any clear motive or intention like responses to search queries, backlinks or website characteristics.
According to Search Engine Land, it is too early to determine what effect the update will have on websites. Rather than stoking speculation, SEL asked readers to remain calm and monitor their Search Consoles and Analytics. This is because of the fact that Google announced that the update would take time to roll out in different Google Data Centres over the world.
As per expert opinion from Solution spire, there is nothing so special about this latest update from Google or anything more significant compared to other frequent updates from Google. In their opinion, it is an empathetic approach by Google to be proactive and give the SEOs an advanced notice to avoid any confusion. In fact, this update actually had gone live on June 3 onwards.
In fact, the complete effect of this update is not known as to how it may affect the ranking or which ranking factors may get impacted. Some initial assumptions are:
The impact of Google June 2019 Core Update
As seen above, broad core updates come out many times a year. These are actually different from the targeted algorithm updates like Penguin and Panda, which are meant to target certain behavior and can have a major impact on existing search rankings.
For example, Panda targeted low-quality content, and Penguin was targeting to hit the black-hat link building techniques. Broad core updates, on the other hand, focus more on general clean ups. With each broad core update, SEOs need to refresh their ways as to what is SEO, and how does it work.
Broad core usually makes lesser fluctuations in terms of ranking. These updates can be considered as a tweak in the primary search engine itself. For example, it may make slight positive changes in hundreds of factors deciding the quality of site and ranking as page speed, keywords in the title tag, and back-links, etc.
Related Post: Latest Google Algorithm Updates that Can Affect Your SEO in 2018
The Biggest Losers and Winners from Google June 2019 Core Update
However, the new Google June 2019 Core Update had an immediate impact on some of the biggest websites. The biggest losers- Dailymail.co.uk and Cryptocurrency news website CCN.com.
Crypto Currency news site, CCN stated that it is going to shut down following a rapid decline in organic traffic and revenues.
SEO toolset site Sistrix stated that the worst hit industries from Google’s updates have been gambling sites. Websites in the health and finance sectors were also pretty badly hit by the update.
One crucial industry that had previously seen high metrics traditionally had been News. However, in this round of update, several News sites saw their exposure and reach decreasing ever since the update. However, the biggest beneficiaries of the update were also news websites.
These websites lost traffic, search rankings and experienced fluctuations in search rankings ever since the update started rolling out.
Some experts stated that Google’s core principles of E-A-T or ‘Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness’ does not apply to these updates. They point to the fact that even sites, which fulfilled the E-A-T diktats, had been penalized by Google.
The biggest beneficiaries
The biggest losers
What are the Experts saying about the Update?
At this point, apart from speculation and guessing games, no one has really narrowed down on what the update intends.
Most people are harking back to Google’s commitments to great content and Google’s Quality Rating Guidelines. There is chatter around the fact that sites, which had a lot of pop-ups and clickbait are the ones that have been penalized.
Google’s commitment to providing its users with the greatest content and information can be taken to be the broad spectrum. However, in the absence of any information coming from Google, all this at best can be termed as mere speculation.
In the global context, this update can be viewed from multiple vantage points. The internet as an unbiased platform of information is no longer with us. This has made search engines like Google and social media giants like Facebook run into many problems with governments and law enforcement agencies.
The role of money power and manipulation in pushing agendas, along with products and services is a reality. All over the world, there is an underlying current of skepticism towards such tech giants. Data breaches and privacy invasions have added fuel to the fire.
For the last year or so, Google has been trying to reinvent itself by trying to go back to its roots. In other words, it wants to be the platform where quality content and credible information is untainted and supreme.
What to do?
In fact, if your site is affected, there is no instant way to fix it. Google may not release any actionable advice as they don’t want the site owners and SEOs to attempt and change things which aren’t actually issues.
The updates can be frustrating to the site owners who may find some dip in their ranking and with no clues on how to fix it. In most cases, you will never know what Google wants you to do. In other words, Google will never release a best practices program for you to rectify the drop.
Google has contracted about 10000 Quality Raters to review the websites and rate them based on the latest Google updates. You have to note that the Raters have no impact on page ranking and their data is not factored into the Google algorithm. Raters usually conduct searches and evaluate the page quality of returned pages. Good uses their feedback to improve further algorithms.
The Final Word
To analyze the exact nature of the damage, we will have to wait and examine the analytics. This might take time, as the rollout from Google will itself take place over the coming months.
However, the results from the Google June 2019 Core Update has already ruffled established feathers. With huge websites like Dailymail experiencing a massive drop and CCN shutting down, we do not know what we can expect.
Web Forums are rife with rumors and gossips on what might happen next. The digital is not only an empowering and democratic domain; it is also a very uncertain world.
The uncertainties give rise to fear and forces people to do things that they would not otherwise do. As Google sends webmasters, brands and digital agencies an endless cycle of headaches and re-evaluations, we can only hope for the best.
Someone mailed me and asked about what they should do to ride over this update. My answer was that no one could do anything. The Batman is here, and whatever he will do, will be shrouded in secrecy.
However, to enhance your site ranking, you may focus on E – Expertise, A – Authority, T – Trustworthiness of your content. Try collecting a significant amount of positive reviews and try to support the information given by adding proper references to make it authoritative.
We will be updating the article as and when we get more information about Google June 2019 Core Update. If you want to add anything to the news, please comment below.
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