Hundreds of Websites Deindexed by Google with March 2024 Core Updates (Google Core Updates March 2024): A Case Study by Appinnovix!
Google made drastic updates to its algorithms this year. Especially, March 2024 Google Updates, aka Google Core Updates March 2024 have massively impacted millions of websites worldwide. The updates resulted in massive deindexing of thousands of websites causing million-dollar revenue loss for deindexed websites.
Are you also one of the deindexed businesses? If yes, then it’s time to move on! Move on to a new content strategy for your website. In this blog, we are revealing the findings of our Case Study that answers some important questions like
- Why did Google make drastic changes to its Algorithms in March 2024?
- What are the Google Core Updates March 2024?
- How can I save my website from deindexing?
- What if I have been deindexed?
- How can I get my website reindexed after Google Updates 2024?
Table of Contents (Google Core Updates March 2024)
The Case:
Google Core Updates March 2024 Led to Deindexing of Thousands of Websites
With the advent of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gsper AI, Article Spinner, Quiltbolt, Google Bard, Gemini, and more, content publishing skyrocketed in FY 2023-24. Consequently, Google’s expenditure increased due to excessive indexing that requires massive infrastructure.
Additionally, Google which has a proven track record of emphasizing User Experience above anything else found that the low-quality content generated by AI tools is misleading the readers and worsening their UX.
Therefore, to save its costs, and improve user experience, Google updated its indexing algorithms in March 2024 which led to the deindexing of millions of websites having poor-quality and AI-generated content.
Not only the Blog posts, Web Pages, and Landing pages but Google also the promotional links, inadequate PPC advertisements, and all other forms of misleading and poor-quality content. As a result, over 800 websites were deindexed within 2 weeks of the updates.
Why These Websites Were Deindexed After Google Core Updates March 2024?
The above case proves that the major reason for deindexing certain websites after Google’s March 2024 updates was poor quality and misleading content! Websites that were publishing AI-generated content without any research had to face deindexing. Additionally, the websites that were hosting unethical, misleading, and overly promotional advertising content also had to bear the brunt.
Therefore, the major reasons for website deindexing include
- AI-generated content
- Unoriginal content
- Overly promotional content
- Misleading content of any type
- Unethical content of any type
- Irrelevant content on a web page
Furthermore, Google’s major internal reasons to deindex these websites were
- Adverse Effects on the User Experience due to bad quality content
- Secondly, the increased expenditure of Google
So, as a matter of fact, Google can’t compromise the user experience and therefore will host only high-quality, research-based, user-friendly, and human-generated original content that is helpful for the audience.
Now, if your website too has been deindexed, or you have been practicing any of the above unethical tactics, then you will certainly come under the radar of Google Algorithms March 2024. But you know what’s good? It’s not too late yet!
You still have 2 months as per Google itself to undo all the wrongs! Happy? Well, you must be! So, let’s undo all the unethical practices on your website today, and save you from deindexing. And even if you have been deindexed, we will help you recover!
But before starting the recovery, it is important to have a quick overview of Google Core Updates March 2024! So, let’s scroll down and check.
A Quick Overview of Google Core Updates March 2024
Google made major changes in its algorithms in March 2024, that majorly revolved around content quality. However, there are also some underlying and additional factors that you need to know if you wish to save yourself from deindexing. Here are the 5 Major Google Core Updates March 2024 in brief-
Quality Ranking Algorithms
As already discussed above, no AI-generated content, unoriginal content, and poor-quality content are going to rank on Google anymore. So, if you are just spinning the existing articles or using generative AI tools for writing and publishing website content, then you will have to face deindexing. Moreover, remember that our studies have found that all the deindexed websites (100% of them) had AI content on their website.
Scaled Content Abuse
Have you ever searched a query on Google and come across some pages that appeared to answer your questions? Then you opened that page but did not find the answer inside? Ah, worry not! You will no longer find such search results with the Scaled Content Abuse algorithm. And if you have used this black-hat technique on your website, you too are going to face the consequences.
Expired Domain Abuse
Expired domains were a boon for black-hat SEO masters until Google’s March 2024 Core Updates peaked in. The Expired Domain purchase and repurpose was an unethical technique to fool people and gain traffic. For example, if a popular business with goodwill closes down and its domain expires, another unethical business purchases it and gets free website visitors (possibly sale as well). Consider the following instances-
- A popular business of herbal products closes down and its website domain expires, the same domain is purchased by a cannabis or alcohol dealer. The audience of former business, unaware of the closure visits the website and gets tempted.
- Another example can be the purchasing of the expired domain of an ethical and popular game by a casino gaming business. This too tempts the visitors and they fall prey to additions.
However, from now onwards, this black-hat technique is not going to help.
Site Reputation Abuse
Taking advantage of your goodwill and reputation is always a bad practice. Be in real life or in virtual reality! If you are a business whose website is doing great and you take advantage of your amazing site reputation by hosting unethical third-party pages. Then soon, you both are going to be caught red-handed by Google. For example
- A medical website hosting a page that promotes cannabis (unethically).
- Online gaming website that hosts and promotes unregulated casino game pages.
- An educational website hosting porn pages.
All these foul practices will land both websites in hot water!
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
Apart from the content, when it comes to User Experience, the website’s user interface also matters. If a website runs really slow, then it worsens the user experience. Eventually, under the INP update, Google will also deindex websites that have an INP speed of more than 500 ms. So, also update your website speed apart from the content upgrade and save your website from the deindexing drive.
Websites That Made The Hay When the Sun Shined!
Appinnovix also discovered that goodness always wins in the end. And the Google Algorithm Update March 2024 did not prove devastating for all the businesses. Rather, many businesses made the hay when the sun shined. The websites offer well-researched, authentic, and original content to their audience. Some of these businesses are
- FreshersLive: A website sharing content in categories centric to people’s lives such as entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, gaming, and more. Got its 5 million pages indexed after Google’s March 2024 Core Updates.
- OldTimeMusic: A website that shares news, articles, and blogs about old songs, music, and meanings of lyrics. (2.5 Million new pages indexed)
- Borderpolar: A technical content website that offers helpful technical content about software tools, games, and technologies.
- OkayBliss: A website that deals with lifestyle blogs and articles and solves people’s queries about their ‘how to’ life issues.
- Gardening ABC: A website dedicated to gardening and farming, disseminating knowledge about fertilizers, seeds, gardening hacks, and more.
When we looked at these websites, we discovered the content on these websites solves mostly the user’s queries about personal life. Basically, these websites work on the YLYM approach (Your Life Your Money). So, content that is now more people’s life-centric is being prioritized.
Have You Also Lost the Google Core Updates March 2024 Battle? Here is How to Get Reindexed!
So, are you regretting using AI content now? Are you scared that soon you will be deindexed? Or you have already been facing the deindexing issues and wanna recover? Well, no worries! Here are some quick tips to recover your website once again!
Revamp Your Website Content
Let the bygones be bygones! You still have 2 months to revamp your website content if you have used AI content on it. Get yourself a good content writer today and ask him or her to rewrite content for your website. And do not forget to check the AI percentage with the free tools available. Make sure that your writer does not use even 10% of AI tools for content generation.
Bid Adieu to Content Generative-AI Tools
If you are using any Generative-AI Tool such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, Article Spinner, and Quiltbolt to produce or rewrite content, then say goodbye to this practice today. Start building your own writing skills or hire a content writer. If you are just paraphrasing your competitor’s content and dreaming of ranking like them, then alas! You will never be able to fulfill your dream. So, it’s time to be unique and think differently!
Stop Hosting Low-quality Third-Party Content on Your Website
Are you hosting unethical third-party pages for a couple of extra coins? Uhh..Ohh! Soon this practice is going to make Google deindex you both! So, stop this practice immediately, and find some other ethical sources of extra income. Do not promote unethical businesses through your domain. Likewise, avoid overly promoting your business on other guest posting sites as well. Because, this too is against the latest Google March 2024 Core Updates.
Avoid Repurposing of Expired Domain
Are you using an expired domain of a formerly popular business for your business? Stop using this black-hat SEO technique today. Especially, if you are running a not-so-ethical business such as online rummy, betting, casino, cannabis, and alcohol-related business. The expired domain can no longer reawaken your business anymore.
Be Original, Think Different!
Last, but not the least, try to be original and solve people’s queries through your website content. So must be your approach while conducting business. If you focus more on ‘selling’ your products and services even when you know that these are only extravaganza or not useful enough, then certainly the business fails. Likewise, your content on the business website must also serve your target audience’s problems, queries, and needs. Otherwise, leaving Google rankings, to sustain your business will also become a daunting task for you.
Concluding Remarks
To conclude, we can say that truth wins no matter how fancy the falsehood is! So, finally, the battle between AI content and human content ends and it is only the first victory of Humans over AI. Summing up, Appinnovix would emphasize to all its readers that be original in their website content and stop foul SEO practices today. Additionally, do not bother too much about deindexing as per the latest Google Core Updates March 2024. You still have 2 months to better your web pages.