Page Experience / Core Web Vitals
The Page Experience update was introduced by Google to prioritize websites that offer a smooth, fast, and user-friendly experience. This update focuses on how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page rather than just the quality of its content.
Core Web Vitals are the main metrics used in this update. They include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures loading speed; First Input Delay (FID), which measures interactivity; and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures visual stability.
Websites with slow loading times, unstable layouts, or delayed user interactions may experience ranking drops. On the other hand, pages that load quickly and respond smoothly tend to perform better in search results.
This update encourages website owners to optimize images, reduce unnecessary scripts, and improve server performance. Mobile responsiveness also plays a crucial role, as most users now browse on mobile devices.
Security factors such as HTTPS, safe browsing, and avoiding intrusive interstitials are also part of the Page Experience signals. These elements ensure trust and safety for users.
Overall, the Page Experience update pushes marketers and developers to think beyond keywords and focus on delivering a high-quality browsing experience.
Medic Update
The Medic Update mainly impacted websites related to health, finance, and life decisions, commonly referred to as YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) websites. Its goal was to ensure that users receive accurate and trustworthy information.
This update heavily emphasized E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Websites lacking credible authorship or factual accuracy saw significant ranking drops.
Health blogs, medical advice websites, and financial platforms were the most affected. Sites with weak credentials or misleading content struggled to maintain visibility.
To recover from the Medic Update, websites needed to improve content quality, cite authoritative sources, and clearly display author credentials.
Building trust through transparent policies, accurate information, and expert-written content became essential after this update.
The Medic Update reinforced Google’s commitment to user safety by rewarding reliable, expert-driven content over generic or unverified information.
Helpful Content Update
The Helpful Content Update was designed to reward content created for people, not for search engines. It targets websites that publish content purely to rank without adding real value.
This update introduced a site-wide signal, meaning that low-quality content on one part of a website can affect the rankings of the entire site.
Content that is shallow, repetitive, or overly optimized for keywords may be negatively impacted. Google aims to reduce “SEO-first” content that lacks originality.
Helpful content should demonstrate real experience, answer user questions clearly, and provide actionable insights. Personal expertise and originality matter more than ever.
Websites are encouraged to remove or improve unhelpful pages rather than publishing content in bulk.
The Helpful Content Update pushes brands and creators to focus on usefulness, clarity, and genuine user intent.
Fred Update
The Fred Update targeted websites that prioritized revenue over user experience. It mainly affected sites with aggressive ads, affiliate-heavy pages, and thin content.
Websites using clickbait headlines with low informational value were among the biggest losers after this update.
Fred penalized sites that stuffed keywords, used excessive ads, or relied on poor-quality backlinks to rank.
To recover, webmasters needed to improve content depth, reduce ad clutter, and focus on user satisfaction.
High-quality, informative content with a clean layout became essential for maintaining rankings.
The Fred Update served as a warning that monetization should never compromise content quality or user trust.
Pigeon Update
The Pigeon Update significantly improved local search results by tying them more closely to traditional ranking signals.
It enhanced Google’s ability to deliver accurate local results based on user location and distance.
Local businesses saw changes in rankings depending on proximity, relevance, and authority.
Directories like Yelp and Google Business Profiles gained more visibility after this update.
Optimizing local SEO elements such as NAP (Name, Address, Phone), local keywords, and reviews became crucial.
The Pigeon Update helped users find more relevant local businesses while rewarding well-optimized local websites.