Google November 2021 Core Update: Google Spam Update Insights

Google announced last week that the broad core algorithm update could be the final update of the year right before the holiday season. But, the update looks to have sparked a series of conversations on various platforms and forums from distressed website owners. These mostly include the small business owners, especially the ones who were prepared for the holiday season. The business owners feel that it might be a huge issue for them if they do not have the necessary details to update their website. In the past, we have posted articles on?Google’s Core Web Vitals?and?Google’s Page Speed Insights.

Though the results of the update is drastic for a few websites, Google has a firm take on it and has maintained the same. The Google team has called it just another update to rank websites that are providing better quality content for the search queries by the users. In this post, we will discuss the Spam update which is the last update of 2021. The earlier spam update was launched on 26th July 2021 and caused a number of changes across almost all industries.

November 2021 Google Spam Update

Google revealed that it has officially launched the Spam Update for November. The Google Spam Update is meant to enhance the quality of search results by removing the sites that the algorithms think are spammy. The update was completely rolled out in a week and it is possible that a few websites may find ranking fluctuations during and after the new algorithm update.

Websites that conduct White Hat SEO do not have to worry much about it as it can do more good than harm. Having said that, the websites that undertake SEO practices that are considered spam by Google may see a drop in their rankings.

Later, Google announced on Twitter that “As part of our regular work to improve results, we’ve released a spam update to our systems. This November 2021 spam update should be fully rolled out within a week. We encourage sites to follow our best practices for Search.”

What does the Update Target: Content or Link Spam?

The first Google Algorithm Update for November 2021 was released on 3rd November with the Google Spam Algorithm Update that resulted in huge fluctuations in search results and chatter in the SEO community. It is safe to say that the industries impacted by the 3rd of November Algorithm Update at this stage were News, Games, Sports, Gaming, and Arts & Entertainment.

Google has not confirmed if the latest update is targeting link spam or content spam. Google has offered a link to their Webmaster Guidelines that offer a guide for best practices when optimizing a website for search engines.

The first changes to the Google search rankings were on the 3rd of November with the SEMRUSH sensor confirming an update was on its way. As Google seldom provides updates in the search ranking algorithm, it was interesting to see third party tools confirm the fluctuations across a number of industries. In a couple of days, we will get a better picture of when we see trends and which websites have been impacted by the update.

Google’s Algorithm Update

It was first noticed in September 2021, and reaffirmed the point at the beginning of October, but we think that Google is continuing to refine the changes made with the Link Spam Update that rolled out in July 2021. One of the most important things that we have witnessed in the last two months is Google swaying between the link quality and link quantity when ranking the websites.

With each passing day, Google is getting better at determining the websites that are using low-quality links, short-sighted link building tactics and adapting rankings accordingly. But, we are also noticing a large majority of websites that are getting ranked with high-quantity, low-quality link building strategies. It is highly expected that the November Spam Algorithm Update will filter some of these websites.

What does the November Spam Update Mean for my Website?

If your website has been negatively impacted, the best advice that we can offer is to wait for the final update rollout. More often than not, the changes and SERP movement will be important in the first few days and hence it is important to see where things go before making any significant changes.

If you see major changes in the website traffic, it must have been due to the November 2021 spam update. Similar to the previous updates, spam updates are meant to remove any low-quality websites that are breaching Google’s best practice guidelines.

Final Word

It is recommended to sit tight till the algorithm update has finished rolling out before making any changes to your website SEO on-site or off-site strategy. If your website has been impacted by the algorithm updates in the last quarter, it is the right time to contact an SEO company that can offer the required guidance and assistance. Let us know what you think about the November Spam Update.