Keeping up with Google's algorithm changes can feel like chasing a moving target. But understanding what actually happened in 2024, and how it might have touched your rankings, doesn't have to be complicated. Here's a straightforward breakdown of the key updates, what they did to search results, and what to do next.
Core updates: quality over everything
Google's core updates are essentially quality checks on search results. In 2024, three rounds landed, and all three leaned on the same idea: E-E-A-T, Google's shorthand for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
March 2024. E-E-A-T took centre stage, and it hit hardest in health, finance, and product reviews, sectors where a lack of credible authorship really shows. We watched a health practitioner client's rankings dip because complex medical pages carried no named author behind them. We added detailed author bios and linked out to external research, and rankings rebounded within weeks.
August 2024. Google got sharper at reading intent. Sites answering specific questions, like "how to fix a washing machine drain issue," were rewarded, while clickbait-style articles fell flat. One e-commerce client selling DIY repair kits saw a genuine traffic jump after we added detailed troubleshooting guides in place of generic product copy.
November and December 2024. Two more core updates, both doubling down on the same message: keyword stuffing and unnatural backlinks got penalised harder, and so did generative AI content published without any human oversight.
Spam updates: cleaning up manipulative tactics
Spam updates work differently to core updates. They target sites using manipulative practices, cloaking, link farms, low-quality automated content, rather than judging ranking quality broadly.
March and June 2024. Backlinks came under heavy scrutiny. Sites buying links from private blog networks, or running aggressive link-building schemes, saw rankings drop overnight. A local service business we worked with lost rankings tied to outdated directory listings. We disavowed the harmful backlinks and built new ones through partnerships with local organisations, and visibility came back.
December 2024. This update targeted cloaked pages and AI content published without a human editing pass. If a site was churning out generic or inaccurate AI content, this is the update that found it.
What 2024 actually taught us
Strip away the update names and the dates, and three lessons stand out.
E-E-A-T is not going away. If your site can't show real expertise and trust, rankings are exposed, especially in health, finance, and anything with a "your money or your life" angle. Author bios, credentials, and a proper About page do real work here.
AI content needs a human pass. AI is a genuinely useful drafting tool, but unedited AI output is exactly what Google's spam systems now look for. Add your own insight, your own examples, your own research, and it holds up fine.
Relevance beats tricks. Keyword stuffing and backlink games are done. Google Search Console will show you the actual queries bringing people to your site. That's a roadmap, not a guess.
Looking ahead
The pattern across every 2024 update was the same: shortcuts stopped working. Sites that focused on genuinely useful content, trustworthy backlinks, and a decent mobile experience held up. Sites looking for a quick trick generally didn't. Expect more of the same in 2025.
If a recent update knocked your rankings and you're not sure why, that diagnosis work is exactly what we do. See how we approach it on our SEO service page.
Jinnat Ul Hasan
Founder & CEO, Whizz People
