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SEO impact of Google’s ‘Helpful Content Update(s)’ in 15 countries

On August 25 2022, Google seemingly started rolling out an update which concerned news publishers in particular. On September 12, they rolled out yet another core update. They called these ones the ‘Helpful Content Update(s)’ and here’s what happened:

Let’s start off with the basics: What is the ‘Helpful Content Update? It’s an update that mainly concerns news publishers and their visibility. Google’s main goal here seems to be weeding out content that is written for the sole purpose of getting a good ranking, but without containing any informational or helpful content for the reader and, vice versa, to reward content that is helpful to readers.

It is said that the second update – let’s call it the September-update – was more impactful than the first one – let’s call it the August-update. But let’s see for ourselves which interesting phenomena we were able to observe with the two updates:

The data shown is taken from our tool. We wanted to make sure to look at the most visible publishers for the generally freshest most newsworthy keywords based on Google News and Trends in the most prominent news-ranking type on the SERP to get the most impactful results for the publisher landscape. All rankings are based on a near realtime 15-minute crawling interval.

So, we used the following filter settings:

• KPI Dashboard → Mobile News Box
• Date Range: July 25 2022 – September 25 2022 (Week 30 – Week 38 2022)
• Top 10 Competitors
• All Ranking Types
• General Keyword Set

With those filter settings, we took a look at each of the following countries individually:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Canada
• Colombia
• France
• Germany
• Mexico
• Peru
• Switzerland (German)
• Switzerland (French)
• United Kingdom
• United States (English)
• United States (Spanish)

For each country we then looked at each of Google’s categories to see whether we would find something extraordinary around the time the update was executed. Just as a reminder, the categories are:

• Top Stories
• Country-Specific News (e. g. ‘United Kingdom’, ‘Germany’ etc.)
• World
• Business
• Technology*
• Entertainment
• Sports
• Science*
• Health
• COVID-19

*  In some countries, Science and Technology are combined into one category

For each category we then picked out two countries, where there were obvious changes in the publishers’ visibility around the time of the updates to illustrate what we found. The other countries that were also affected are listed at the end of each category. The pictures show a selection of the most noticeable publishers out of the top 10.

Let’s have a look at what we found out:

Top Stories

 

France

The graphs of the publishers France Info, Le Monde and L'Équipe in France in the category 'Top Stories' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.

(For your info: the two vertical dashed lines mark the two updates respectively).

For this category, we see that publishers in France have obviously been affected by both updates. While France Info‘s and Le Monde‘s visibility decreases with the August-update, we can see a slight rise in L’Équipe‘s visibility. Then, in week 36 (September 5 – September 11), something happens for all three of the publishers: their visibility graphs all change courses and France Info and Le Monde now go up in visibility, while L’Équipe’s falls.

In a nutshell:

In the Top-Stories-category, French publishers seem to have been affected by the August-update about two weeks after it was rolled out. The September-update had no visible impact on their rankings in the Mobile News Box.

 

Mexico

The graphs of the publishers El Financiero and Infobae in Mexico in the category 'Top Stories' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.
Here we can observe that the two publishers El Financiero and Infobae have been affected by the updates as well: While El Financiero shows a rise in their visibility after the August-update, Infobae drops in visibility following the update. After the September-update, El Financiero then shows a visible drop as well.

In a nutshell:

Mexican publishers seem to have been affected slightly more by the August-update than by the September-update. It cannot really be said that either of the updates only lead to publishers to either drop or rise in their visibility.

 

Top Stories – other affected countries and publishers:

Besides France and Mexico, other countries and top publishers that were affected by the updates in the category ‘Top Stories’ were:

• Argentina → Clarin ; Infobae ; La Nación
• Australia → ABC ; 9News ; News.com.au ; The Sydney Morning Herald ; The Guardian
• Brazil → globo.com
• Canada → BBC ; CBC ; CTV News ; Global News ; The Globe and Mail ; New York Times
• Colombia → El Colombiano ; Semana
• Germany → BILD ; DER SPIEGEL ; ZDF ; Die Zeit
• Switzerland → Tagesschau
• Switzerland (French) → Le Matin ; Le Temps
• United Kingdom → BBC ; The Independent
• United States (Spanish) → CNN ; ESPN

Country-Specific News

 

Switzerland

The graphs of the publishers 20 Minuten and Blick in Switzerland in the category 'Country-specific news' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.
Here we can see very visible changes for both updates. Both 20 Minuten and Blick rise in visibility after the August-update. Then, in week 36 (September 5 – September 11), 20 Minutes has its peak in visibility, while Blick already starts to drop. From week 36 to week 37, the week where the second update happened, both publishers display an extreme drop.

In a nutshell:

While publishers seemed to have benefitted from the August-update in the Country-Specific-news-category, the September-update led to a drop in visibility for Swiss publishers.

 

United States (Spanish)

The graph of the publisher Washington Post in the Spanish-speaking U.S. in the category 'Country-specific news' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.
For the Spanish-speaking U.S., the most affected publisher in the Country-Specific-news-category was The Washington Post. Here, we can perfectly see the effect of both updates: Before week 34, where the August-update took place, their visibility was on a steady rise, only to make a sharp twist after the update and drop in visibility. After the September-update, they then dropped even more steeply.

In a nutshell:

The first update in August seems to have the most extreme effect in this category. This resulted in an obvious change in the publishers’ course of visibility. The second update in September only added to that negative effect.

 

Country-Specific News – other affected countries:

In this category, every measured country showed some anomalies around the time of the updates. Here are the affected top publishers of each country:

• Argentina → Ámbito ; El Cronista ; Infobae ; La Nación
• Australia → ABC ; 9News ; News.com.au ; The Sydney Morning Herald ; The Guardian
• Austria → MeinBezirk.at ; ORF ; derStandard.at
• Brazil → Correio Braziliense ; Estado de Minas ; globo.com
• Canada → CBC ; CP24 ; CTV News ; Global News ; The Globe and Mail
• Colombia → El Colombiano ; El Tiempo ; Portafolio ; Semana
• France → BFMTV ; Franceinfo ; Le Monde ; Le Parisien
• Germany → DER SPIEGEL ; Die Zeit
• Mexico → El Economista ; El Financiero ; EL PAÍS ; El Universal ; Proceso
• Peru → Gestión
• Switzerland (French) → 20 MinutenLe Matin ; RTS.ch ; Tribune de Genève
• United Kingdom → BBC ; The Guardian
• United States → Fox News

World

Argentina

The graphs of the publishers La Nación and Infobae in Argentina in the category 'World' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.
In the World-category, Argentina proves an ideal example for more obvious changes in visibility for publishers after the second update in September. While the August-update seemed to have little to no impact on Infobae and La Nación‘s visibility, the September-update led to both of their visibilities dropping drastically.

In a nutshell:

Here, the second update has proven more successful than the first one – at least for Google’s purposes. For the first update, it seems that big publishers were not affected at all in the ‘World’-category.

 

Colombia

The graphs of the publishers Semana, El Espectador and El Tiempo in Colombia in the category 'World' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.

For Colombia, there was an increase in visibility after the August-update, especially for El Tiempo and Semana, while the visibility of El Espectador nearly stagnated. However, the visibility drops for all three publishers before the September-update and remains then at an almost constant level after it. Only El Espectador can regain visibility after the second update.

In a nutshell:

Both updates have caused a lot of turbulence in the Colombian visibility for the ‘World’-category, which has settled down again after the updates.

 

World – other affected countries:

• Australia → ABC ; 9News ; BBC ; The Sydney Morning Herald ; The Guardian
• Brazil → CNN Brasil ; globo.com ; UOL
• Canada → Al Jazeera ; BBC ; CBC ; CNN ; CTV News ; Global News ; New York Times
• France → Franceinfo ; Le Figaro ; Le Parisien
• Germany → FAZ.NET ; DER SPIEGEL ; ZDF ; Die Zeit
• Mexico → BBC ; EL PAÍS
• Peru → BBCCNN ; El Comercio ; LaRepublica.pe
• Switzerland (French) → Le Matin ; RTS.ch

 

Business

 

Peru

The graphs of the publishers CNN, El Comerico and RPP in Peru in the category 'Business' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.Even before the August-update, the visibility of the publishers in Peru for the Business-category changed: RPP lost and CNN gained visibility. Between the two updates, CNN again saw losses in visibility, but these evened out again towards the September-update. RPP was also able to build up visibility at first, but lost it towards and after the September-update. For El Comercio, there was a short term upswing after the August-update, but this flattened out again.

In a nutshell:

The first update seems to have had a stronger and more negative effect on publishers in Peru than the second one.

 

Switzerland (French)

The graphs of the publishers Le Temps and RTN in French-speaking Switzerland in the category 'Business' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the Business-category, for French-speaking Switzerland it can be observed that RTN loses a lot of visibility at the time of the August-update and is unable to make up for it during or after the updates. Le Temps on the other hand is able to increase visibility after the August-update, but loses it again in the week of the September-Update, only to regain visibility after this update.

In a nutshell:

The situation in the ‘Business’-category for the French-speaking publishers in Switzerland couldn’t be more different: On the one hand, the publishers lost a lot of visibility and on the other, they went through a rollercoaster of visibility during the updates and increased their visibility at the end. What can be said for all of them though is that both updates had an obvious impact on their visibility.

 

Business – other affected countries:

• Argentina → ÁmbitoClarinEl Cronista ; Infobae ; iProfesionalLa Nación ; La Voz
• Australia → 9News ; Financial Review ; News.com.au ; The Sydney Morning Herald ; The Australian ; The Guardian
• Austria → FINANZEN.AT ; kurier.at ; ORF
• Canada → Bloomberg ; BNN Bloomberg ; CBC ; CTV News ; Financial Post ; Reuters ; The Globe and Mail
• Colombia → El Colombiano ; El Espectador ; Infobae ; La República ; Semana
• France → Le Figaro ; Le Monde
• Germany → DER AKTIONÄR ; FAZ.NET ; HandelsblattTagesschauDie Zeit
• Mexico → CNN ; MILENIO
• Switzerland → Finanzen.ch ; SFR
• United Kingdom →  BBC ; The Guardian ; The Telegraph
• United States → CNBC ; CNNNew York Times
• United States (Spanish) → AS.com

 

Science & Technology

 

Colombia

The graphs of the publishers El Tiempo, Infobae and Semana in Colombia in the category 'Science and Technology' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.For the ‘Science & Technology’-category in Colombia, the graphs show that both El Tiempo and Semana increased in visibility after the August-update, but El Tiempo lost it again after the September-update. Semana on the other hand lost some visibility in the weeks between the updates, but increased it again after the September-update. For Infobae, the updates weren’t as successful: They lost visibility through the August-update, which they built up again in the meantime and lost it again through the September-update.

In a nutshell:

Here, the September-update seemed to have been more slightly more impactful for Colombian publishers than the first one in August, for some publishers negatively and for some positively.

 

France

The graphs of the publishers Gamekult, Jeuxvideo and Le Monde in France in the category 'Science and Technology' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the Science & Technology-category, French publishers have largely been able to maintain or even build their visibility after the August-update. However, both Jeuxvideo and Gamekult lost visibility after the September-update. Only Le Monde increased its visibility after both updates.

In a nutshell:

For most of the French publishers, the two Google updates in the ‘Science & Technology’-category resulted in a loss in visibility.

 

Science & Technology – other affected countries:

• Argentina → Ámbito ; ClarinEl Cronista ; Infobae
• Australia → ABCBBC ; NASA ; Forbes ; Phys.org ; Space.com ; The Conversation ; The Guardian
• Brazil → TecMundo ; TudoCelular.com
• Canada → BBC ; Bloomberg ; CTV News ; Forbes ; IGN ; NASA ; Space.com ; The Verge
• Germany → GamePro ; heise online ; Mein-MMO ; NETZWELT
• Mexico → Applesfera ; CNN ; El Español ; Vida Extra ; Xakata México
• Switzerland → NZZ ; watson
• Switzerland (French) → Les Numériques
• United Kingdom →  BBC ; NASA ; Eurogamer.net ; MacRumors ; The Guardian
• United States → CNET ; MacRumorsNew York Times ; The Verge
• United States (Spanish) → BBC ; The Verge

 

Entertainment

 

Australia

The graph of the publisher News.com.au in Australia in the category 'Entertainment' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the Australian ‘Entertainment’-category, News.com.au‘s visibility increased leading up to the August-update, only to then show an extreme drop that lasted until the week of the September-update. This one lead to the visibility-curve flattening again.

In a nutshell:

The first update in August seems to have had a significantly negative impact on Australian publishers in the ‘Entertainment’-category, while the second update in September had a more positive impact, leading to their visibility ceasing to drop in such a significant manner.

 

United Kingdom

The graphs of the publishers Dailymail and Mirror in the U.K. in the category 'Entertainment' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.

For U.K. publishers in the entertainment-category, the two updates showed significant influences on the visibility, as can be seen above for the Daily Mail and the Mirror. Both publishers show an increase in their visibility leading up to Week 34. Then, when the August-update takes place, both of their visibilities drop significantly. For the Mirror, the graph drops continuously, even through the September-update, but for the Mirror, this second update makes them drop even more in terms of visibility.

In a nutshell:

Here, the first update in August had a significant effect on the U.K. publishers’ visibility. The September-update only influenced some publishers even more negatively or not at all, but did not lead to their visibility coming back up.

 

Entertainment – other affected countries:

• Argentina → Clarin ; Infobae ; La Nación ; TN
• Austria → BILD ; Kronen Zeitung ; kurier.at
• Brazil → globo.com
• Canada → BBC ; CBC ; CP24 ; CTV News ; People.com ; Variety
• Colombia → Canal RCN ; El Tiempo ; MARCA
• France → BFMTV ; Le Monde ; Ouest-France ; MY TF1 ; Yahoo
• Germany → BILD ; n-tv ; DER SPIEGEL ; tz
• Mexico → El Universal ; Infobae ; MILENIOTerra Mexico
• Peru → LaRepublica.pe ; RPP
• Switzerland → 20 Minuten ; Blick
• United States → CNN ; Yahoo
• United States (Spanish) → CNN

 

Sports

 

Canada

The graphs of the publishers CBC and TSN in Canada in the category 'Sports' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the Canadian ‘Sports’-category. TSN held visibility during the August-update, but lost it slightly in the week before and during the September-update but then gained it back after update. CBC‘s visibility on the other hand went the other way: before the August-update, their visibility increased significantly, and then dropped off slightly at the time of the September-update and in the following week.

In a nutshell:

The August-update had a larger impact on Canadian publishers’ visibility in the ‘Sports’-category, for some immediately at the time of the update and for some in the following weeks.

 

Germany

The graphs of the publishers Bild and Kicker in Germany in the category 'Sports' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.There is a really exciting insight in the ‘Sports’-category for the German publishers: Their course is almost identical. In the week before the first update in August, both Bild and Kicker first lost visibility and then increased it again in the week before the update and afterwards. However, Bild then continued to increase in visibility in the week leading up to the September-update, while Kicker’s visibility dropped. But then Bild lost significant visibility with the September-update. In contrast, Kicker regained visibility in the week of the September-update, but lost it in the week after the update, just as Bild did, too.

In a nutshell:

The first update in August made German publishers increase in their visibility in the ‘Sports’-category. However, the September update led to them dropping in visibility.

 

Sports – other affected countries:

• Argentina → Infobae ; Olé ; TN ; TyC Sports
• Australia → ABC ; nine.com.au ; The AgeThe Guardian
• Brazil → ESPN ; Superesportes ; Torcedores
• Colombia → Caracol TV ; Infobae ; MARCA
• Peru → DEPOR ; Trome
• Switzerland → BILD ; Blick ; SFR
• United States → CBS Sports
• United States (Spanish) → ESPN ; MARCA

 

Health

 

Austria

The graphs of the publishers Der Standard, Kurier, ORF and Vienna.at in Austria in the category 'Health' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the ‘Health’-category, Austrian publishers Der Standard and ORF were able to significantly increase in visibility after the August-update and also bring this increase through the September-update with slight fluctuations. In contrast, both Kurier and Vienna.at lost visibility after the August-update, but were also able to make up for this after the September-update.

In a nutshell:

For publishers in Austria, the August-update seems to have had the largest impact on their visibility in the ‘Health’-category. This impact was negative for some publishers and positive for others. The September-update had little to no effect on Austrian publishers’ visibility.

 

United States

The graphs of the publishers NPR and The New York Times in the U.S. in the category 'Health' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the U.S. ‘Health’-category, the progressions seem to be very identical between NPR and The New York Times, because initially, both lost visibility after the August-update. However, NPR continued to lose visibility until the September-update. After that, the visibility for them increased slightly again. For The New York Times on the other hand, things got a bit more turbulent: First, they regained visibility between the two updates only to lose it significantly in the week of the September-update and regain it in the week after the update.

In a nutshell:

The August-update seems to have had a negative impact on big U.S. publishers’ visibility in the Health-category, while the second update in September had a positive effect.

 

Health – other affected countries:

• Argentina → Clarin ; Infobae ; La Voz
• Australia → ABC ; 9News ; BBC ; Medical News ; The Sydney Morning Herald ; The Guardian
• Brazil → globo.com
• Canada → BBC ; CBC ; CTV News ; Global News ; The Globe and Mail
• Colombia → CNN
• France → 2o MinutesBFMTVOuest-France ;
• Germany → FAZ.NET ; RP Online ; DER SPIEGEL ; Süddeutsche Zeitung ; Die Zeit
• Mexico → El Financiero ; EL PAÍS
• Peru → CNN ; El Comercio ; EL PAÍS
• Switzerland → NZZ ; DER SPIEGEL ; Tagesschau
• Switzerland (French) → Franceinfo ; Le Matin ; Le Monde ; Le Temps
• United Kingdom → BBC ; The Guardian

 

COVID-19

 

Brazil 

The graphs of the publishers Abril, Globo and UOL in Brazil in the category 'COVID-19' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the COVID-19-category in Brazil, the three publishers Globo, Abril and UOL show little to no changes in their visibility in the week of the August-update. In week 36 though, which went from September 5 to September 11 and marks the week immediately before the September-update, both Abril and Globo drop in their visibility, while UOL rises. For Globo, this drop continues throughout the September-update and UOL continues to rise, only Abril is able to catch itself again and flatten the curve.

In a nutshell:

Brazilian top publishers seem to have been significantly more impacted by the September-update than by the August-update.

 

Germany

The graphs of the publishers Der Spiegel and Die Zeit in Germany in the category 'COVID-19' with two lines marking Google's Helpful Content Updates on August 25 and September 12 2022.In the German ‘COVID-19’-category, DER SPIEGEL particularly gained visibility in the week leading up to the August-update and then slowly lost it again through the August-update until the September-update. Through the September-update, the trend for DER SPIEGEL went up again. The picture is different for Die Zeit: Here, the publisher lost visibility in the week before the August-update and regained it through the August-update. They were also able to maintain this visibility with slight reductions in the time between the updates. However, they then lost visibility dramatically through the September-update.

In a nutshell:

For Germany publishers, both updates seem to have had an impact on visibility in the ‘COVID-19’-category simultaneously.

 

COVID-19  – other affected countries:

• Argentina →  Clarin ; InfobaeLa Nación ; La Voz ; Perfil
• Australia → ABCBBC ; The Sydney Morning Herald ; The Guardian
• Austria → derStandard.at ; kurier.at ; ORF ; Salzburger Nachrichten ; Tiroler Tageszeitung
• Canada → BBC ; CTV News ; Global News ; The National Post ; The Globe and Mail ; The Star
• Mexico → El Economista ; El Financiero ; EL PAÍS ; Expansión
• Peru → El Comercio
• Switzerland → DER SPIEGELDie Zeit
• Switzerland (French) → 20 Minuten ; RTS.ch
• United States → CNBC ; Yahoo
• United States (Spanish) → L.A. Times

 


 

Takeaways: 

For top publishers in most countries, the first Helpful Content Update in August seems to have had a more significant impact on their visibility than the second one in September. It cannot be clearly said that the updates only had a negative impact on publishers’ visibility, since some clearly benefitted from them.

Here are some other interesting takeaways we noticed:

• Publishers from Argentina, Australia, Canada and Germany showed noticeable changes in visibility around the updates in all of Google’s categories
• The country-specific news category was the only category where publishers from all countries showed anomalies in some way
• In the ‘Business’-category, Brazil was the only country that showed no noticeable changes in top publishers’ visibility
• The same goes for French-speaking Switzerland in the ‘Entertainment’-category and the Spanish-speaking U.S. in the ‘Health’-category
• The top departments of the categories Country-specific news, ‘Business’, ‘Science & Technology’, ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Health’ were most affected by the update
•The BBC was affected by the top 10 rankings of the ‘World’-category in four countries (Australia, Canada, Mexico and Peru) and was therefore in this analysis the most affected publisher

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