Last Updated: December 20, 2024

November and December 2024 SEO News Recap

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Marketer assessing SEO news updates on laptop

Welcome to our November and December 2024 SEO News Recap! In this extra-large edition, we cover two months’ worth of updates, AI tools, and more! Also, be sure to check out our latest installment of “ROI Answers” at the bottom of this article to find answers to commonly asked SEO questions.

Jump to each November and December 2024 SEO News Recap topic using the links below:

Google Core Updates

Google’s December 2024 Core Update is the fourth and most likely, last core update of the year, and it finished rolling out after only six days. It started on December 12th and was officially completed on the 18th. It was a bit atypical and started only one week after the November 2024 Core Update had been completed.

In its announcement on X, Google said:

The Dec. 2024 core update is rolling out, and we expect it will complete in two weeks. If you’re wondering why there’s a core update this month after one last month, we have different core systems we’re always improving.

We know that this update differed from the November core update but how is not clear. We saw some spikes in our tracking tools for December 12th – 18th, and you may notice performance dips in Google Search Console due to the high SERP volatility during the core update.

For a history of Google’s most recent core updates, check out our post, Google Algorithm Updates: History & Latest Changes.

Image: The SEMrush Sensor showing very high volatility during the December 2024 Core Update.

Confirmed: Google Uses a Combination of Site-Wide and Page-Level Ranking Signals

Settling a debate in the SEO community, Google has clarified in its ranking systems documentation that both site-wise and page-level signals are used by the algorithm to rank results in Search.

This means that Google not only analyzes individual pages to understand how to rank them but also considers signals and classifiers at the site level – so optimizing a single page might not be enough to improve rankings for any single page. This emphasizes the value of a holistic website optimization strategy. We highly recommend focusing on creating helpful content and strengthening EEAT signals across your entire website to have the best chance of improving organic rankings and performance.

Site Reputation Abuse Updates

Google still hasn’t made enforcement of the site reputation abuse policy an algorithmic process, but it does have an algorithm that is getting better at identifying potential culprits. In a conversation thread on X, SEO Glen Gabe noted that Google’s Danny Sullivan told him, “Our systems aim to understand if a section of a site is independent or starkly different from the main content of the site. This helps us surface the most useful information from a range of sites.” In other words, Google is getting better at finding site sections that don’t fit in and downgrading them in the SERPs, which could lead to a closer look by a human on Google’s team.

Google recently updated its site reputation abuse policy to clarify that using third-party content on a website “to exploit the site’s ranking signals is a violation of this policy — regardless of whether there is first-party involvement or oversight of the content.” To further help site owners understand the policy, Google also added a FAQ section to it, clearly spelling out what constitutes abuse and what efforts may or may not help remove a manual action.

Putting it all together: If Google determines a website is in violation of the policy, it will issue a manual action. A site that has not received a manual action but has seen a section of the site decline in rankings for being much different from the rest of the site was likely hit by the algorithm mentioned above.

Google Documentation Updates: URL Structure, Favicon & Trends

URL Structure

URL Structure best practices can now be found here. Notable additions:

  • Ampersands and equal signs are recommended for separating multiple key-value pairs.
  • Colons, brackets, and single and double commas are not recommended for multiple key-value pairs.

Favicon

Favicon best practices can be found here. Notable additions:

  • Favicons must be square (1:1 aspect ratio) at a minimum size of 8x8px, but sizes larger than 48x48px are recommended.

New documentation on Google Trends can be found here. What’s included:

  • Getting started with Trends, along with a note from Google about how the tool can be leveraged for strategy development: “Google Trends can help you better understand how people find information on Google Search, which can help you to develop your content strategy and refine how you talk to your audience.”
    • Monitoring general and specific trends.
    • Performing keyword research.
    • Creating a content calendar.
    • Benchmarking against your industry.
    • Analyzing brand awareness and sentiment.

Google Search Console Updates

Over the last month, Google has announced a few updates to Search Console (GSC). Here’s a quick summary:

  • Removing the Page Experience report – Google said the report was removed to simplify navigating the information included in it, which was already available in the Core Web Vitals and HTTPS reports.
  • Removing Google Analytics Data for Search Console Insights – Including GA4 data in the insights report seemed to be helpful for getting a more holistic view of website performance, but Google said the focus is now solely on data from GSC. We’re wondering how many people will even bother viewing the report now without the benefit of that combined data.
  • Changing the date picker, including a new 24-hour view – In GSC’s Search Results report, you can now choose from 24 hours, 7 days, 28 days, 3 months, and custom date ranges. The 24-hour report shows data by the hour for the most recent 24-hour period. A few days after this announcement, Google confirmed that the 24-hour view’s hourly breakdown is not supported by the Google Search Console API, yet.

Reminder: Third-Party Tool Metrics Don’t Directly Affect Your SEO

When you think of third-party tools and their SEO metrics, what comes to mind? For us, it’s Moz’s Domain Authority (DA), Ahref’s Domain Rating (DR), and SEMrush’s Site Health and Toxic Backlink scores.

John Mueller of Google recently stated that he understands why some people look to these metrics to improve their SEO, but he reminded us that they don’t directly affect it. And, long term, you should focus on “finding ways to add real value that’s unique and wanted by people on the web (together with all the usual SEO best practices as a foundation)” to improve your SEO rather than solely relying on third-party metrics, although these can be useful indicators of how your site may appear to Googlebot.

Update Content for “Term Drift”

It’s no secret that refreshing your content is a great way to allow your site to rank for new, relevant keywords. Perhaps these new keywords didn’t exist when the content was originally added, or perhaps the terminology you used has changed meanings over time. Some common examples recently given by Search Engine Roundtable include Google AdWords changing to Google Ads and Google My Business changing to Google Business Profiles. Needing to update these types of terms on your site is what Darth Autocrat refers to as “Term Drift.”

If you’re looking to optimize existing content in the new year, we recommend starting with some of your site’s older pages to see if this affects them. This recommendation only applies to the content and metadata on your pages; do not change URLs for term drift.

Highlight to Learn More in AI Overviews

AI Overviews (AIO), formerly known as Search Generative Experiences (SGE), officially rolled out in May of this year. Since SGE was announced, its responses have evolved including testing multiple formats and features. The latest addition, which is still in the testing phase, allows users to highlight text within an AI Overview response to trigger an additional, related response with citations so that users can dig into topics even further than before. This feature may not yet be available to all users, but keep an eye out for the Highlight button in the upper right corner to try it out.

Here’s an example of the tool in action, shared by Search Engine Roundtable:

Image: Example of AI Overviews Highlight tool.

Highlight to Learn More in AI Overviews

  • Search Lab users can hold down the shutter button to record a video of what they’re looking at and ask a question. Google will understand the video and the question in relation to each other to produce an AI Overview answer.
  • Global users can use voice input for Google Lens by pointing their camera at a still object and holding the shutter button while asking a question. The result will provide an AI Overview.
  • Using Lens for shopping got an upgrade. Now when you point your camera at an object, you’ll not only see results listing where to buy it, but you’ll also see reviews and pricing information across retailers.

New Gemini 2.0 AI Model Powering AI Overviews Responses

Also in AI Overviews news, Google announced that it is testing the latest iteration of its AI assistant to power AIO results. Sundar Pichai said that Gemini 2.0 can “tackle more complex topics and multi-step questions, including advanced math equations, multimodal queries and coding.” We can expect it to roll out more broadly in 2025.

ChatGPT Search Is Live

On November 1st, OpenAI released a new version of ChatGPT that includes search capabilities with citations to its Plus and Team users. Within weeks, it became available to free users, so anyone who uses the generative AI model has access. In partnership with Bing, ChatGPT can now search the web for answers to questions and respond with clickable sources embedded in its answer (see screenshot below). Clicking on the “Sources” button will open a full list on the right side of a desktop screen.

This update could help the popular large language model chip away at Google Search’s hold on the industry.

Image: Screenshot of an answer with embedded citations from ChatGPT Search.

While Bing’s search functionality plays a partial role in ChatGPT Search, OpenAI is also using proprietary technology with its own set of crawlers. The following are keys to potentially showing up in ChatGPT Search:

  • Proper robots.txt configuration – it should “specifically allow OAI-SearchBot while maintaining separate permissions for different OpenAI crawlers.”
  • Ensure indexing by Bing.
  • Maintain a clear site architecture.

Search Engine Land is Acquired by SEMrush

In mid-October, the parent company Third Door Media which owns Search Engine Land (SEL), was acquired by SEMrush. You may recognize names like Danny Goodwin and Barry Schwartz in conjunction with Search Engine Land. They have been covering search news with SEL for years (and will continue doing so). As Danny writes, “The missions of helping marketers do their job better are aligned.” SEL is known for providing news and actionable advice, while SEMrush provides the tools needed to implement those actions. SEMrush plans to enrich the educational aspect of SEL’s content offerings and keep the individual entities (MarTech, Search Marketing Expo, Digital Marketing Depot, and SEL) as their standalone brands.

Search Will Change Profoundly in 2025

In a video interview with New York Times’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, stated, “Search itself will continue to change profoundly in [2025]. I think we are going to be able to tackle more complex questions than ever before.” Mentioning the building blocks of its language understanding, BERT and MUM, Pichai pointed to previous improvements in Search’s quality and said with Gemini and AI Overviews, the company is “just getting started.” He expects that Google Search will be able to tackle even more complex queries. Of course, he didn’t go into much detail, so we’ll have to wait for the new year to see what surprises Google has in store.

ICYMI: Other Recent SEO Blog Posts

October 2024 SEO News Recap

The State of SEO for Ecommerce in 2024

ROI Answers: SEO FAQ of the Month

Q: What is a SERP Feature?

A: SERP Features are elements that exist on Search Engine Results Pages which provide dynamic experiences to users, with functionality that goes beyond the traditional organic “blue links.” These typically provide quick and direct answers to a user’s questions or allow users to dig in and learn more about the topic they have queried.

Some common SERP Features are Featured Snippets, AI Overviews, People Also Ask, and Knowledge Panels, but you can find a complete list and description of the different types in this guide from SEMrush.

As the SERP evolves and “blue link” results are pushed further down the page, SERP Features can be great opportunities to gain sought-after real estate as part of your organic strategy. The ROI SEO team has noticed a significant increase in the volume of SERP Feature opportunities since the August Core Algorithm update, including many new rankings for our clients with optimized helpful content.

Still confused or have questions about anything you’ve read in the November and December 2024 SEO News Update? Reach out to ROI Revolution’s SEO team to see how we can help!

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