In early March 2024, Google announced a core algorithm update they themselves described as unusually large. At the same time they rolled out a new spam update. Together, the two took two weeks to fully complete.

For many websites (particularly English-language niche publishers and affiliate sites) the consequences were dramatic. Traffic losses of 50, 70 and 90 percent were reported. But it does not strike randomly.

What was different about this update?

The March 2024 Core Update explicitly aimed to reduce "unhelpful, unoriginal and copied content" in search results. Google's own words. Combined with a spam update specifically targeting websites that mass-produce low-quality content for SEO purposes, the message was clear.

Google also highlighted its own concept: "scaled content abuse", websites using AI or other methods to produce large volumes of content without real value. This became an explicit spam violation.

Who was affected?

The pattern is clear:

  • Websites with vast amounts of thin content produced to capture long-tail keywords
  • "Parasite SEO": content published on established domains by third parties to steal ranking strength
  • AI-generated content without editorial reworking
  • Affiliate websites with no original expert content

There were also reports of some legitimate websites being affected, likely because they shared a domain with a lot of low-quality content or were interpreted as doing so.

What does this mean for SMBs?

Directly: probably little, if you already run a legitimate business website with genuine content.

Indirectly: competitors who have been using cheap SEO shortcuts may have lost visibility. That is an opportunity.

The most important lesson is structural. Google is consistently signalling what it wants to reward, and it is not volume: it is depth, credibility and genuine usefulness.

What should you do now?

If your rankings have not moved: do nothing but continue creating good content.

If you have seen a drop: use Google Search Console to identify which pages have lost clicks and positions. Is the content genuinely useful? Is there something unique about it? If not, it may not be worth defending.

The March 2024 update is not a pandemic striking randomly. It is a directional adjustment that rewards what has always been good practice.

Worried about your website's SEO health after the update? We can review it with you. Get in touch.