Google a few times a year rolls out what it calls is a core update. Google might make many small changes every day but the core updates are big ones.
The latest update the imaginatively named May 2020 Core update has just been deployed. The changes that these updates make can take up to a couple of weeks to filter through an effect individual website rankings or as we have seen in other updates it can be almost instant.
Although Google does not specify exactly what the change is likely to be this time they have released some hints. The update seems to be all about Content. The fully list can be found on the google webmasters blog
https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html
To me this reads like it is an update to remove click bait type content
Google reiterated in its post the following
- Does your content provide original insight or analysis?
- Does the content provide new insight ?
- Is the headline overly exaggerating or shocking
- Would you share or bookmark this
- Is the source and expert in this topic?
- Is the content free from errors
In the update Google also introduces its quality rating guidelines and EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.) You can check out the quality guidelines we have linked to the 168 page pdf. Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.
Although none of this stuff is new. It looks like shallow content is being targeted again with this update.