Welcome to another segment of SEO news weekly. I have some pretty groundbreaking news this week. Let’s take a look, shall we? 

• Google search timer and stopwatch are back 
• Google Search Console completed the migration of the new reporting system 
• Google announces a new helpful content update

15/8 – Google Search Console completed the migration of the new reporting system 

Google recently reported that they had completed the migration to the Search Console’s updated issue categorization, including new changes to the coverage (Page Indexing) report. 

With the completion of the migration, this would also mean that the validate fix button is not back available for users. 

18/8 – Google search timer and stopwatch are back 

A few weeks back, I reported that Google search no longer provides a timer or stopwatch. I guess the people at Google have heard the public’s plea. The timer and stopwatch function has been re-instated into Google Search, and I couldn’t be happier. 

Your tabs now also shows the time remaining from your timer so you can navigate through different tabs while keeping tabs on the time.

Google announces a new helpful content update

Google recently announced a new helpful content update that downgrades websites designed to rank well rather than promoting helpful content. 

The updates will start rolling out next week and take up to two weeks to fully roll out. Google said that websites impacted by the update would take months to regain their ranking by showing Google that they are consistently creating content that is helpful for readers. 

This update is a sitewide algorithm which means that Google will use bots to determine whether the entirety of your website is helpful for readers. If Google determines that most of your content is unhelpful for readers, Google will downgrade your whole website as opposed to only that specific article or a certain segment of your website. 

The End! 

What do you think about this week’s news? Are you scared of the new upgrades? Let me know in the comments below. 

Updated: 26 April 2024

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