Google has resolved an issue that impacted some websites’ visibility in Google Discover after the company’s latest core search update.
On November 1, Google announced it detected and fixed a bug affecting how its October 2023 core update was applied to Discover. As a result, some sites may now notice increased Discover-related traffic.
Google rolled out the October 2023 core update starting on October 5. These updates target Google’s primary search algorithms in order to surface more authoritative content and demote low-quality websites.
Core updates often lead to shifts in search rankings that can impact traffic to websites. Google completed the latest core update on October 19.
After discovering the bug, Google engineers were able to correct the problem on the same day it was found. The fix should restore proper functioning for how core update changes are implemented across Google Discover.
Discover is the customized news feed experience available on mobile devices and in the Google app. Many publishers rely on Discover as an important source of mobile traffic.
This core update, like previous ones, aimed to promote quality content while reducing the visibility of unhelpful or misleading sites. Google routinely refines its search algorithms through these global updates.
For any sites negatively impacted by core updates, Google recommends focusing on improvements in expertise, content quality and user experience. Producing more helpful and factual content over time can help regain lost visibility.
Core updates bring short-term ranking turbulence, but high-quality sites are rewarded in the long run, according to Google. The company says its algorithms are designed to surface authoritative results to better serve search users.
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