Google: The Next Core Update May Strengthen Helpful Content Signal

 According to Google, future core algorithm upgrades might strengthen the useful content ranking signal.

According to Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, the helpful content ranking signal may get stronger with future algorithm upgrades.

The beneficial content upgrade began two weeks ago. According to early feedback from SEOs and publishers, the new ranking indicator has little influence on search results.

Sullivan responded to the criticism last week, underlining how important the helpful content update is, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Because the update is ongoing, its influence will become more evident over time, unlike previous upgrades such as Panda and Penguin, which resulted in dramatic changes in search results right away.

To that aim, we now know when the useful content update will be more visible.

Sullivan reacted to comments again this week, noting that the beneficial content signal may become stronger when additional algorithm modifications are implemented.

He claims:

"Perhaps the helpful content signal was insufficient to tip the scales and make a shift in someone's specific scenario, but when we perform additional upgrades (core, product reviews), it may add to that and be more meaningful."

The following comment is from a lengthy Twitter exchange in which Sullivan reiterates many of the same concerns made last week.

Again, Sullivan claims that the impact of the helpful content upgrade is as expected:

"Noticeable does not imply that every site notices a change, and why would that happen?" Are the bulk of websites useless?"

In the following quotation, he makes an intriguing point about how it would be alarming if a big number of sites decreased in ranks. That would imply that Google previously elevated a large number of sites that post unhelpful information.

It's wonderful to know Google already established a high threshold for content quality in search results, especially since the helpful content upgrade didn't hurt many sites' ranks.

One last takeaway from Sullivan's twitter thread: just because Google missed certain problematic sites during the initial wave of the deployment doesn't imply it won't capture them later.

Here's the quote (my emphasis):

"If you went through this initial release and saw no change, then 1) congratulations, plenty of stuff is useful, and that's probably you, or 2) if you do have unhelpful content, don't believe we won't figure it out and consider adjusting what you're doing...."

However, it is too early to say if the helpful content improvement will be as significant as earlier Google algorithm updates.

As Google likes to emphasize, it's an ongoing project. After a few months to a year, variations in SERPs before and after the beneficial content update may be more evident.