Maklu Initiative

released its first big core update of 2024. Here's everything you need to know:

Content Quality Matters Even More Now:

The new update is expected to reduce low quality + un-original content by 40% from a search result. A low-quality content is:

- Content written by AI
- Content that's just rewritten words of an existing article/s
- Content that lacks information/emotion
Scaled Content Abuse:

Google hates mass content generation using AI. They are calling it "Scaled content abuse" and have introduced a deindexation + penalization policy around it.

Site Reputation Abuse:

Parasite SEO & giving out backlinks / getting backlinks from established sites with poor quality content seems to be the target of Google. This will now be considered spam content.

Expired Domain Abuse:

Expired domains that are purchased and repurposed with the intention of boosting the search ranking of low-quality content are now considered spam.

Our Suggestions:

1. When writing, try to put in your own thoughts and experiences. Use AI only to fix grammar, and do formatting - do not use AI to write your content.

2. For now, don't worry too much about spam backlinks - those are not site-level penalties yet.

3. Do not use expired domains to launch / grow your business

Google now has product variant structured data support.

Previously, it was only schema on a product level, now they go one step deeper and you can have dedicated markups for your variants.

New validations for variants have been added to the Product snippets and Merchant listings reports in the Search Console and Rich Results Test as well.

If you run an eCom site with products of different sizes/colors/variations, make sure to change your schema markup.

Your rich results test should look like this afterward.

Google’s Misrepresentation policy prohibits deceptive practices such as scams, impersonation, false advertising, and phishing.

Specifically, the policy states that unacceptable practices include the following:

Concealing or misrepresenting information about a business.
Impersonating other brands.

Advertising products or services that can’t be delivered.

Advertising services in a way that could endanger users’ health, life, or safety.

Using phishing techniques to collect user information.

Google may take action against accounts that receive regulatory warnings, settlements, or direct complaints regarding unlawful business practices.