My name is Fred and I’m Google’s latest algorithm update to improve Google Search Results!
If you’ve been following Google SEO news for the last few weeks, you may have come across or heard of Google Fred. He is Google’s latest algorithm update to counter websites with low quality content on them. This includes sites with duplicate pages, plagiarized content, duplicate titles, low quality pages, thin content, large emphasis on affiliate or advertising aspects, spun content, etc. These websites provide little to no value to Google Search users. The main aim of these websites is to generate revenue from ads or other affiliate models.
Google’s motive here is to penalize Webmasters who are either not adhering to Google’s best practices for Webmasters or are actively engaging in techniques aimed at improving their website’s Google Search rankings by circumventing Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. One of the main purposes of a website is to help solve a problem or answer a question raised by a search query on Google. Many websites place a higher emphasis on their own ad revenue and profits as opposed to answering a search user’s query. Google Fred is on a rampage to penalize such websites that rank high but do not help visitors that Google sends their way.
The majority of websites hit by this update are websites with low quality content coupled with aggressive, sometimes even invasive ad placements where the content of the web page is not directed towards user query but rather promotion of affiliate products. Websites employing Black-Hat SEO techniques to boost Google Search rankings are prime candidates affected by Google Fred such as those with multitudes of low quality backlinks leading back to them via Private Blog Networks (PBN’s) and websites with content designed for search engines such as Google as opposed to real users.
Every Google algorithm update rolled out intends to improve Google Search for end users and to force websites to impart something of value to visitors who land on one of the website’s many web pages.
If your Google search rankings have been hit, the first place to check would be on Google Search Console (previously Google Webmaster Tools) under Search Analytics – Manual Actions.
Google Fred primarily affected websites with intrusive popups. Did your website lose organic traffic due to a drop in search result rankings attributed to Google Fred? Let us know in the comments below.
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