What is Google Medic Update?
Google Medic update was a major algorithm update that reduced the rankings of sites that ranked for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) keywords. It was released on August 1, 2018.
YMYL is what Google uses to describe content that could affect a person’s health and finances or the safety, welfare, or well-being of a group of people. For example:
- Heart attack symptoms
- How to invest in stocks
- What to do during an earthquake
The Google Medic update specifically targeted Your Money or Your Life content with low E-E-A-T signals.
E-E-A-T is short for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. They are a set of criteria that Google uses to determine the quality of a webpage. The stronger a content’s E-E-A-T signals, the higher it will likely rank on search results pages.
Google’s Official Announcement of the Medic Update
Google announced the Medic update in an August 1, 2018, post on X (formerly Twitter).
Google referred to the Medic update as a “broad core update.” This indicates it was a major update to the Google Search algorithm. These sorts of updates typically cause significant changes on Google Search results pages.
Google added that the broad core update was intended to reward sites that were previously under-rewarded and mentioned that there was no fix for sites that lost rankings to the update.
However, Google encouraged sites that lost rankings to continue creating great content, and they may rank in the future. Danny Sullivan, Google’s Public Liaison for Search, also recommended that bloggers read the Google rater guidelines.
How SEOs Uncovered the Google Medic Update
SEOs knew about the update even before Google announced it. This is interesting because SEOs are typically only sure an update is happening when Google announces it or after rank tracking tools have tracked the volatility on search results pages for a while.
In this case, several rank tracking tools, which SEOs use to detect official and unofficial Google updates, had not even registered the update before SEOs suggested an update was ongoing.
SEOs uncovered the update because of the massive loss of rankings that occurred right after Google released it. Some sites lost as much as 30% of their traffic, and several others dropped from number one for certain keywords.
The loss of rankings happened so fast that multiple SEOs and bloggers complained on SEO forums, causing some SEOs to speculate that Google had released an update.
Types of Sites Affected by the Google Medic Update
The Google Medic update greatly affected sites that publish Your Money or Your Life content. These sites were spread across various niches, including:
- Health
- e-Commerce
- Bedrijf
- Finance
- Technologie
- Travel
- Coupons and deals
- Insurance
- Nieuws
- Public information
The Medic update had a major impact on health, wellness, fitness, and medical content, even when posted on sites outside the health niche. For example, many of the e-commerce sites affected by the update sold health and medical-related products.
How the Google Medic Update Got Its Name
Google referred to the August 1, 2018, Medic update as a “broad core update” and did not provide specifics as to what exactly it was targeting. Google did not name it the Medic update either.
SEOs, however, tracked the rankings of several sites and discovered that medical, health, fitness, and wellness sites were more affected than others. This prompted Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable to name it the Google Medic Update.
Effects of the Google Medic Update
The Google Medic update had long-term effects on SEO. For one, it has practically made it impossible for non-institutional bodies and organizations to rank for certain keywords.
For example, when you search for “what to do during an earthquake,” the search results page returns guidelines from sites belonging to governments, educational institutions, and international organizations.
Similarly, a search for “how to avoid phishing scams” brings up government sites alongside sites belonging to renowned organizations and software companies.
Before the Medic update, bloggers who were not experts in these niches would have been able to rank for these keywords.
The medic update also made it hard for black hat sites to rank for Your Money or Your Life keywords. This is not to say they cannot rank. They could, but it will be short-lived compared to other types of niches, where they may maintain their rankings for a longer period.
Reasons Some Sites Lost Traffic to the Google Medic Update
Many sites lost traffic to the Google Medic update. However, many other SEOs and bloggers also reported a massive increase in their traffic.
The SEOs and bloggers that saw their traffic increase mentioned that they had improved their E-E-A-T signals before the Medic update was released.
This further indicates that a site must have a good E-E-A-T signal to rank for Your Money or Your Life keywords. In fact, Google updated its Quality raters guidelines around the time it released the Medic update.
For one, Google expanded the definition of Your Money or Your Life keywords to include keywords that could affect the safety of its users.
Google also instructed its quality raters to give a site a low trust rating even when the blogger or site has a slightly negative reputation. This indicates that Google and its search raters may determine the trustworthiness of a site using reviews left on third-party sites.