{"id":23982,"date":"2024-05-23T15:18:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T12:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/?p=23982"},"modified":"2025-07-18T10:57:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T07:57:05","slug":"google-updates-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/google-updates-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nagging Google Updates Have Affected Travel Bloggers\u2019 Websites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It has been a while now since travel blogging turned from a fun hobby into a data-driven SEO game. On the one hand, Google updates 2024 aim to improve reader experience. On the other hand, these updates often force bloggers into a situation in which they must change their content and strategy to keep getting search traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn about the Google updates over the past months and the main struggles that travel bloggers faced as a result. You\u2019ll also receive some expert tips on how to optimize your travel blog content in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Happened: A History of Google\u2019s Algorithm Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As travel blogging has transformed into a meticulous game of SEO optimization, we have compiled a list of the biggest Google updates that occurred over the last 17 months. Reading about these updates can help you understand possible traffic fluctuations, so make sure to have your blog traffic reports in front of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are Google Algorithm Updates?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Google\u2019s algorithms are a sophisticated system that Google has developed to rank webpages in the search results. To keep the most relevant content on top, these algorithms consider hundreds of factors, such as content relevance, quality, reader experience, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Google used to introduce only a few changes every now and again, the search engine is now known to roll out thousands of updates<\/a> per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Google Algorithm Updates in 2023-2024<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Below, you will find a list of the major Google updates in reverse chronological order. We excluded core updates that are rolled out on a regular basis. You can read more about core updates, why they are important, and what changed in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site Reputation Abuse – May 6, 2024<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This anti-spam update aims to take down websites that host third-party content to manipulate search rankings. This may include sponsored, advertising, and partner content that has little to do with the hosting website and brings no value to users. You can read more about site reputation abuse in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviews Update – November 8, 2023<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This change concerns rankings of review content to bring only useful reviews to the top of the search results. You can read more in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spam Update – October 4, 2023<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This spam update was designed to enhance spam detection systems as well as provide better language coverage and clean search results. Namely, the update addresses cloaking in addition to hacked, auto-generated, and scraped spam content. It covers various languages, including Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Turkish, Vietnamese, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helpful Content Update – September 14, 2023<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In this update, Google loosened its strict policies on AI-powered content. This update addressed mainly third-party content, such as advertising or sponsored content, published on websites. You can read more in our article “Answers to Your Top Questions About the September 2023 Update”<\/a> and in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviews Update – April 12, 2023<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This update addressed review content and introduced the Double-E-E-A-T content quality paradigm. The concept of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is now substituted by Double-E-E-A-T. In which the extra \u201cE\u201d stands for Experience, while the word \u201cDouble\u201d indicates a new approach to content quality. You can read more in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product Reviews Update – February 23, 2024<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This update addressed content in multiple languages with a focus on English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, and more. The update aims to eliminate thin content. You can read more in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link Spam Update – December 14, 2022<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This update aims to reduce the presence and impact of unnatural links in the search results. You can read more in Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Google Updates Have Affected Travel Blogs: The Experiences of Content Creators<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Google’s algorithm updates can significantly impact travel bloggers, often presenting challenges alongside opportunities. Many bloggers experience highs and lows on their journey to success. In this section, we\u2019ll explore how several travel bloggers have navigated these changes and adapted their strategies accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decrease in Traffic on High-Quality Blogs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Olly Gaspar, a professional adventure travel photographer, travel writer, and founder of We Seek Travel<\/a>, noted that Google favors UGC regardless of its relevance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking through that, I see drops from the October Core Update and the March Core Updates. While it\u2019s hard to pin down exactly why, from a user perspective, I see that Google seems to be favoring UGC sites over high-quality travel blogs for many search queries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, Google\u2019s perceived search intent for many queries seems to have changed. Many articles where I offer my researched suggestions and in-depth knowledge, complete with first-hand experience, original photos, and personal opinions, are now usually outperformed by Google\u2019s commercial-intent links\u2013 or Reddit posts from >5 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, it feels like a monopolization of information that has nothing to do with \u201chelpful content\u201d, \u201cEEAT\u201d etc. That said, I see most of the traffic drops coming from big commercial intent keywords. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t set out to make millions from blogging, I just wanted to share my photography and guides. Yeah, this turned into a business but I never sold out with my blog posts, I kept writing about things I wanted to share, so many articles still do well since I wasn\u2019t publishing to maximize profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think Google now favors authority, site structure, and branding above all else. I also think that they try to combat that by sprinkling in \u201chidden gems\u201d with that update, which sometimes are great but are sometimes the opposite of \u201chelpful\u201d. Search is a mess\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For context, I\u2019ve invested a lot of time and energy into writing the most helpful travel guides possible and I believe my travel blog is one of the 10 fastest on the web with a fairly good UX\u2013 this hasn\u2019t helped much at all the recent updates. I\u2019m still optimistic for the future. Maybe Google will actually understand the content it\u2019s ranking one day. For now, I try to cut through the noise and will continue creating great guides, a strategy that has worked really well for me for 6+ years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decline in Traffic on Blogs With Rare Updates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Christine Rogador, the creator of Ireland Travel Guides<\/a>, experienced significant drops in traffic after the September update:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“I got hit hard by the September update, but 4 sites appeared to be slowly recovering, this month, with the new update\u20143 travel related sites and 1 non-travel site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funniest thing? We barely updated any of them, except one travel site, where we published 1-3 new articles published every month. The other 3 websites got hit hard again this month and we\u2019ve been publishing hard on those sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The screenshot is from a travel site with the highest gain so far at 48% this month. Not sure if these gains will hold, but better than the alternative for now, I guess.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Decrease in Traffic on SEO-Focused Blogs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Jenny Gallion Femrite, the creator of Seeking Stamps<\/a>, experienced a decrease in traffic on her SEO-focused blog. Many of her posts that had been ranking at the top of the search results were outranked by older content. As a result, Jenny decided to diversify her traffic sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get significantly hit during the first update, but my traffic is down by about 1\/3 right now. Many of my #1 posts are currently outranked by crappy responses on Quora or Reddit (even ones about my local city, where I have lived for over 20 years).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My plan is to stop checking my analytics, hang in there, and keep going. Hopefully, things will get sorted out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bret Love of Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide<\/a> and Green Global Travel<\/a> also turned the focus on diversifying traffic sources and building an audience on social media to depend less on SEO:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019m not updating a damn thing until I see data suggesting that doing so would produce results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suffice it to say, our Mediavine revenue is down 40% year on year, but we still made just $300-$400 less than last January thanks to increasing our non-Google-reliant revenue. And January is always our slowest month\u2026”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increase in Traffic on Blogs With Low Ad Density<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Other bloggers had a bit more luck and actually saw their rankings go up after the Helpful Content Update in September 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Erin has been running a general travel blog Pina Travels<\/a> (Instagram<\/a>) for 8 years now, posting 95% own images and lots of personal experiences. She keeps a low ad density and a pretty low ratio of affiliate posts. In the last few months she experienced traffic growth:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“I wasn\u2019t hit by the HCU at all. In fact, my blog seemed to benefit from it. I was accepted into Mediavine at the end of October 2023, and my traffic continued climbing. March 2024 was my biggest month yet\u2014I cracked 80k sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month, my traffic it seems to have dipped very slightly, but it may be seasonal because some of my content covers places that are popular to visit in winter and spring. My rankings seem to be holding on. I\u2019m cautiously optimistic that I\u2019ve made it through this update unscathed, but still need the dust to settle to know for sure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Larry Deane of Blue Ridge Mountain Life<\/a> also believes that changes in traffic are related to the density of ads on one\u2019s website:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce the update is done, go look at some of the top-ranking content and compare it to your own. Note the differences and fix them. Look at other areas where you can diversify your traffic and revenue. Newsletters, social media posts, YouTube, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m honestly a bit mystified other than that the update seems very advertising and money focused. I\u2019m definitely seeing a trend for larger search terms, where smaller websites were significantly impacted. Based on what I\u2019m seeing right now, I’ve experienced about a 40% loss in traffic from the changes compared to last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Tame Google Updates: 4 Strategies From Travel Bloggers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not sure how to keep up with these constant Google updates? No worries, we have gathered hands-on tips from travel bloggers that will help you focus on what is most important. Make sure to track your blog performance to learn what works for your blog and what does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Write Niche Content <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your general travel website does not grow due to the latest Google algorithm update, consider focusing on country- or city-specific content or even start a new niche blog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marek Bronstring of Indie Traveler<\/a> shared that he noticed major shifts in rankings for specific posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201c1 site was positively affected. My other site, which I launched in July of 2023, grew from 500 to about 20k visitors a month in this period, despite the Google updates. Site 1 has Mediavine all over, Site 2 has no ads, only affiliate links. Indie Traveller, my main site, is up moderately overall. With that said, there have been big shifts in the ranking of individual posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pattern I noticed is that more general lists (for instance, suggested countries to travel to) have had to cede ground to larger platforms or brands. More specific posts have fared better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also started a niche destination site in July 2023, which has grown wonderfully despite the last two Google updates. It\u2019s only DA4, yet it brings in a lot of new traffic and affiliate revenue. I held off building a new site for years thinking DA is the be-all and end-all, but I found that, with the right topic, a new site can still be highly successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stephanie Thibaudeau Rytting of France Adventurer<\/a> and USA Adventurer<\/a> shared that moving content to a niche site resulted in traffic growth:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fact, I\u2019ve moved several posts without rewriting them hardly at all (just a few minor updates) to a new site and they are doing exceptionally well. These results are somewhat compounded by the fact that I moved it from a general travel site to a niche site, but still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other big thing I\u2019m doing is diversifying traffic sources from the get-go on these sites, so that, if\/when Google decides to penalize them, I won\u2019t take such a massive hit. I\u2019m using Facebook and Pinterest, and focusing on growing my email list right away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Follow E-E-A-T Principles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) are expected to affect search results even more in 2024. Google aims to provide users with the most credible and relevant content. Expertise relates to the depth of research and knowledge on the topic. Authoritativeness encompasses your credibility as a content author, and refers to your website\u2019s domain rating. Trustworthiness is about how secure user experience is on your website. Make sure your credentials are verifiable and you cite only trustworthy sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nick Kembel, the creator of Spiritual Travels<\/a> and Taiwan Obsessed<\/a>, experienced a traffic increase for his Taiwan-related content with first-hand tips that are not available anywhere else on the Internet and present him as an authoritative source of information:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sites are quite niche. They are often about one specific destination, which I cover quite comprehensively, with a lot of first-hand info that is not available anywhere else in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n