Google confirmed another release of helpful content update on Dec. 5, 2022, and the rollout was completed on January 12, 2023.
The December 2022 helpful content update improves on the helpful content system Google introduced in August. This update adds new signals, most notably expanding its use to include content in all languages worldwide—it is no longer limited to English.
Google’s Official Announcement
On Dec. 6, 2022 Google announced this new update and what to expect from the update.
The Dec. 2022 helpful content update was released Dec. 5, starting to become more visible today & will take about two weeks to fully roll out. It improves our classifier & works across content globally in all languages. Our help page explains more: https://t.co/MS7hbcBTsp
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) December 6, 2022
What Are People Saying?
Many SEOs took to Twitter to give their insights about the December 2022 Helpful Content Update. Check out the helpful content update quick facts shared by search geek Barry Schwartz and other SEOs.
Everything we know and see from the December 2022 Google helpful content system update https://t.co/ZHMZInHgbA pic.twitter.com/Ior1J9sTAm
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) December 7, 2022
If the content was classified unhelpful by the original classifier, and the new classifier sees the content as helpful, the unhelpful classification is removed by the time this update is done. If the content is still seen as unhelpful, then that classification applies.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) December 7, 2022
What’s Next – Dealing With This Update
Google’s helpful content system aims to promote websites with users in mind rather than search engines. It attempts to elevate content that goes above and beyond what is widely available from other publishers and adds distinctive value to the web.
This update to the helpful content system may contain new signals or modifications to existing signals in addition to expanding to all languages. The update will affect unoriginal, low-quality content. So if you’re writing content to drive search engine visibility and traffic, this update might hit you.
The helpful content system was previously available only for English, and now this current update enables the system for other languages too. So non-English sites are no longer safe from this helpful content system.
