Google updates are part of Google’s attempt to ensure its users get the best experience. Google aims to achieve this goal by promoting helpful, informative, unique, and genuine websites on the top. Google rolls out its updates multiple times a year to improve its search engine’s performance.
But these updates are quite notorious in the SEO fraternity! They can cause a drop in organic traffic to a website. So it’s vital to be aware of these SEO algorithm Updates and take the necessary steps. The year 2022 was critical for Google, website owners, and SEO alike as Google launched multiple updates to enhance user experience.
Let’s take a brief look at all the SEO updates in 2022 below.
SEO updates in 2022
Here is the complete SEO Algorithm list from Google in the year 2022:
December 2022 Link Spam Update
In December 2022, Google released a global update to combat spammy links. This update aimed to neutralize the credit passed by unnatural links, which can negatively affect the quality of search results. The rollout of this update was in sync with the helpful content system update of December 6. Google stated that the link spam update would take about two weeks to roll out fully. It’s considered one of the most important SEO updates in 2022
Google Helpful Content System Update
In December 2022, Google updated its helpful content system, adding new signals to its classifier and bringing the helpful content update globally for all languages. The update aimed to reward content that helps or informs people rather than content created primarily to rank well in search results. The rollout of this update was also expected to take up to two weeks.
October 2022 Spam Update
In October 2022, Google rolled out its latest improvements that enabled its search engine to detect search spam. The update was global and affected all languages. Google did not specifically say whether this update was focused on links, content, or other forms of spam. The October 2022 spam update took less than 48 hours to roll out fully.
September 2022 Product Reviews Update
This was the second Product Reviews Update of the year and the fifth overall. The update was launched before the September 2022 Core Update was complete. It was meant to reward English-language product reviews that are helpful and useful to searchers. The rollout of this update was completed on September 26.
September 2022 Core Update
This was the second core update of the year. It was launched three days after the helpful content update finished rolling out. The update was less significant than previous core updates, including the May 2022 core update. The rollout of this update was completed on September 26.
Helpful Content Update
In August 2022, Google revealed details about its new helpful content update. It is a sitewide signal that rewards content that helps or informs people. This update aimed to compel website owners to create human-centric content instead of search engine-centric content. This is one of the most important SEO updates in 2022 launched by Google. The update began rolling out on August 25 and was completed on September 9.
Google provided a list of 15 questions to ask about content reviews to ensure that websites are building human-first content. The update impacted certain website categories more than others, such as online education materials, arts and entertainment, shopping, and tech-related content.
July 2022 Product Reviews Update
Google’s fourth release of the product reviews update was meant to reward high-quality product reviews. The update was more of a refresh than anything new and took only six days to roll out fully.
May 2022 Core Update
This was the first broad core algorithm update of 2022 and the first in more than six months. The update aimed to change how Google’s ranking systems assess content comprehensively. The rollout of this update took up to two weeks.
March 2022 Product Reviews Update
This third release of the product reviews update is built on the work of the two prior product review updates. The update was meant to help Google identify high-quality product reviews and reward them with better rankings. Google provided new advice around ranked lists, recommendations of “best” products, and creating reviews for multiple vs. individual products. The update took a few weeks to roll out fully.