Google’s New Algorithm Update Crushing Sites With AI-Generated Content: My Experiment

Google’s March 2024 core algorithm update is cracking down on low-quality, AI-generated content across the web. Google wants to “reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content on Search and keep it at very low levels.”

Google says the update involves adjusting its rankings “if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience. or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people.”

For websites that have relied on AI tools to generate content — but without a human touch of editing, insight, and original thought — this algorithm update presents some challenges.

Pure AI-written content is clearly being targeted, as Google notes they will “take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”

Did Google Do Website Owners a Dis-service?

Google had originally said AI content was OK — IF it produced quality content that provided value. Many website owners interpreted that as a green light for using AI and added massive amounts of content to their sites.

Uh, oh.