Google announced a Core Algorithm Update on September 12, 2022. However, the official Google list of announced updates stated that it would take up to two weeks to finish rolling out.

“Released the September 2022 core update. The rollout could take 2 weeks to complete.”

The initial response from the search community was generally positive, although some affiliate marketing Facebook groups were noticeably muted.

Core Algorithm Update

A core algorithm update is announced by Google when changes are made that are large enough to be felt by publishers and search marketers.

The Official Google Search Central account tweeted the update announcement.

A core algorithm update changes multiple parts of Google’s algorithm.

While the algorithm is constantly changing, a core algorithm update tends to be more noticeable.

The latest algorithm changes would expect to be seen within the next few days as the changes are rolled out to data centres.

If we are doing your SEO, we are already across this. We will monitor your site and any changes affecting your rankings and make the necessary adjustments to your strategy.

There is no confirmation of how this impacts the search results (SERPs) worldwide and in different languages.

This will affect search results across most languages since these updates are more general.

Will Core Update Amplify Helpful Content Update?

Danny Sullivan recently tweeted, in response to questions, that the effects of the helpful content update might become more observable during a core algorithm update.

Again if Mobilise Solutions are already doing your SEO, we are already auditing and making changes to the content on your sites in regards to the Helpful Content Update if it was required that was applied to the algorithm update recently.

“Maybe the helpful content signal alone wasn’t enough to tip the scales and produce a change in someone’s particular situation, but when we do other updates (core, product reviews), it might add into that and be more significant….”

That seems like a general statement, however, and I wouldn’t take that to mean that a core update WILL be more noticeable in a core update.

It’s important to note that Danny prefaced his statement with a “maybe.”

That said, the helpful content is a part of the core algorithm core and is continually running so that a new website can be affected by that algorithm component known as the Helpful Content Update (HCU).

Unless Google states that the Helpful Content Update is a significant part of this core update, it may be premature to say that it is being amplified in this September Core update.

Despite some early predictions that the HCU would change everything, the search community now regards it with a shrug.

Some have expressed that they expect the HCU to come back stronger with a core update.

Because the HCU was also targeted and the announcement called out specific bad examples, I felt the HCU would also not affect the average website.

Search Community Response to Core Update

The Search Community response was generally hopeful that it would improve the search results.

How to Respond to Core Update

But the response in some of the affiliate marketing spaces was muted, with not much in the way of comments.

Search results may bounce around for the next few weeks.

Allow the search results to settle before making sense of it.

If you doubt your site, where it ranks, or whether your content is up to scratch. Please get in touch with us for a free audit or visit the SEO page and get yourself a FREE SEO audit of your site.