Google keeps rolling new updates to improve user experience and provide the most relevant information based on their search queries.
The most recent core update rolled out by Google was in August 2024. It took as long as 19 days for this update to get completed. Started on 15th August 2024, this core update was ended on 3rd September 2024. Because of this update, there was a rollercoaster like impact in website rankings.
Now, the question here is what Google August 2024 core update was all about?
According to an official at Google, the goal of this update is to improve search results. In other words, the update aims to provide more relevant, useful, and genuine information to the users. Additionally, this update pushed the content down that was created just to rank well in the SERPs rather than providing value to the users.
This update focused on the feedback that content creators and other publishers gave after March 2024 core update regarding the promotion of useful content.
Now, when we are talking about useful and relevant content with this core update, it won’t be wrong to say that it has affected thousands of websites with AI-generated trash content.
Here, we will see how this latest update from Google will impact AI-written content.
Guidelines for AI-Written Content in Google August 2024 Core Update
Now, we have gone through a brief discussion of what Google’s core update in August 2024 was all about. Now, let us see how it will affect AI-written content.
Focus on E-E-A-T
With the rise in AI-generated content, the update’s focus is to scrutinize the content that does not follow E-E-A-T qualities.
When we use AI tools to write a piece of content, they just pick information from multiple sources without analyzing whether it will deliver value to the users or not. Sometimes, you never know that the content generated does not aligns with the intent of the topic. This is where August 2024 update has put the bars.
It doesn’t matter what you are posting and how the content has been generated, it must have these qualities:
Expertise – The content must show the expertise of the writer in the niche of the topic.
Experience – It must reflect enough experience while providing value to the user.
Authoritativeness – The information presented in the content should be picked from authoritative sources rather than from anywhere.
Trustworthiness – The content creator must have some factors for which he/she can be trusted. There must also be other quality platforms where the writer has posted content. Moreover, the website on which the content has been posted must also have good authority and genuine information on about us page.
Originality and Uniqueness
We are not saying that AI cannot produce unique content but, it is not always possible. In most cases, AI-written content has generic and repetitive information.
This is another factor that websites with AI content have seen a massive shift to the down side after Google has rolled out August 2024 core update.
To stay unaffected, you need to optimize the AI content with more meat related to your topic and ensure that it has unique information that is not easily available.
However, the best we could do here to prepare well-researched human-written content. This will reap good benefits.
Quality Over Quantity
With the rise of AI content, publishers have just increased the volume of the content they are posting. Regardless of the richness of the content. As a result, they are not getting good rankings. Based on the new core update by Google, one should focus on quality rather than posting contents quickly.
It doesn’t matter whether you are posting once or twice a week. Your content must deliver value to the user while meeting their search intent.
Let’s say you’ve prepared an information-rich blog of 700 words; this blog will do much better than a 1500+ word blog having generic or repetitive information. The whole focus here is to be crisp and clear.
Keyword Stuffing
We have seen that AI-written content has keywords all around. For example, if you have generated a content piece on “overhead showers” using AI, it will have the keyword “overhead showers” after every 3-4 line. This is known as keyword stuffing and it is considered a black hat SEO technique.
After this Google August 2024 core update, all such contents have either been removed or shifted below in the SERPs. This is a restricted practice. In the first place, you must focus on human-generated content, however, if you are using AI-content, then it must be refined for such issues.
Remember, Google’s algorithms are becoming smarter with every core update. It is not anymore difficult for them to identify pure AI-written content. So, you should make adjustments accordingly.
Irrelevant Information
AI is still in its infancy and it is not a guarantee that it will provide accurate or correct information always.
Some AI-written contents have irrelevant information that does not aligns with the topic and user’s search intent. Such webpages have been penalized by Google.
Moreover, AI can also deliver fake facts and you need to have a thorough check on them as well. This is the only way to stay least affected with the August 2024 core update.
Human-Driven Content – The Lone Warrior
Well, Google keeps rolling core updates periodically. With each update, its goal is to provide value to the users. They must get the genuine and correct information for which they have searched.
AI-written content is a booming sector and as of now, it has not shown much positive results. The reason here is simple, low-quality and plain content. Human touch is always required for improvement.
It doesn’t matter how advanced AI is becoming or will be in the future, human-driven content will always be a strong candidate to deliver better rankings and traffic.
The expertise and authority a writer gives are hard to achieve with AI. At least for some years to come. Even to make AI-generated content ready to deliver good results, human touch is required. It will also be the same in the future.
The Last Say
Google August 2024 core update was just meant to penalize mediocre and low-quality content. It never directly said to avoid AI-written content.
The whole game here is to produce a content which is rich in relevant and unique information, doesn’t matter how it has been produced. The quality is always the issue and it always will be.
So, all the content creators must focus on creating content that aligns with the audience’s needs. As long as you are providing quality, quantity will be never be the problem.
Hence, try creating human-generated content. Seek AI’s help but do not rely completely on that. Read, research, analyze, optimize, and then post AI-written content to stay in Google’s good books.
