The August Core Update: A Disappointment for Many Publishers

As many of you are aware, the recent August core update has left a significant number of publishers feeling frustrated and disheartened. If you’re among those who suggest waiting for the complete rollout before drawing conclusions, I urge you to reconsider. We’ve heard this advice before, particularly from Google’s John Mueller back in March, and it hasn’t proven helpful.

Historically, Google has acted swiftly when it comes to enforcing shadow bans; back in March and September, it took only a matter of days for many sites to suffer declines in visibility. The update was introduced on March 5th, and the impact was seen by March 7th. In the aftermath, the common refrain was to “wait for the update to roll out fully, then audit your website.” But this has left many content creators feeling stuck and uncertain.

Since the last update, numerous publishers have expressed deep concerns over ongoing drops in traffic and keyword rankings. Several SEO specialists profited during the prior updates, offering dubious recovery plans, while some desperate publishers resorted to drastic measures, such as deleting substantial portions of their content in hopes of regaining lost ground. Optimism ran high leading into the March update, but what followed felt more like a widespread shadow ban than a recovery opportunity.

Dishearteningly, the discussions surrounding these updates have often devolved into mocking one another—suggesting that certain blogs “deserved” their fate. Yet, many recognized that it wasn’t merely the quality of content at play; even AI-generated or irrelevant content in platforms like TikTok continues to dominate search results.

In an effort to regain traction, many of us have initiated new blogs from scratch, only to discover that the challenge of content creation is often met with vague and unclear guidelines from Google. The notion behind the helpful content update remains murky, with little guidance beyond the admonition to “create for users, not for search.” This statement is open to interpretation, raising concerns that it could discourage effective SEO practices altogether.

Now, as we evaluate the August core update—initially teased in July—there’s been an unsettling sense of volatility leading into August. Following its rollout on August 15, some well-known publishers began to see their rankings rebound, often without making substantial changes to their existing content. I even observed one publisher completely abandon their blog and suddenly witness a revival.

However, amidst these recoveries, many gaming and entertainment blogs, including my