Google Search cracks whip on ‘low-quality’, non-original content

Search giant Google has woken up to crack whip on repeated or copied content which is of low-quality in its search results with the roll out of a new algorithm. The search ranking update called the “Helpful Content Update” will start rolling out globally to English language users on August 22.

“We know people don’t find content helpful if it seems like it was designed to attract clicks rather than inform readers. So starting next week for English users globally, we’re rolling out a series of improvements to Search to make it easier for people to find helpful content made specifically by and for people,” said Danny Sullivan, Public Liaison for Search in Google.

This update will make sure that “unoriginal, low-quality content ” doesn’t rank highly in Search, particularly for online-educational materials, entertainment, shopping, and tech-related searches, he said in a blog post late on Thursday.

Over the past one year, Google has been making efforts to review content and framed the new rules to filter or vet the content online before showing them in search results. “For example, if you search for information about a new movie, you’ll see more results with unique, authentic information, so you’re more likely to read something you haven’t seen before,” Sullivan explained in his blog post.

Last year, Google kicked off a series of updates to show more helpful, in-depth reviews based on first-hand expertise in search results. “We’ve continued to refine these systems, and in the coming weeks, we’ll roll out another update to make it even easier to find high-quality, original reviews,” said the company.