Sites Hit With October Core Update vs HCU, Growing Google Discover, and a Graveyard Site

<p><!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast!</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>This week, Jared plays hosts alongside his guest Tony Hill, a niche site expert with about 2 decades of experience. Come along as they dissect and digest the latest news on SEO, digital marketing, Google, niche sites, and beyond.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>They kick off the show talking about the October core update, which just completed its 2-week rollout. Tony talks about how many sites got hit by both the HCU and this update, and Jared talks about whether or not the second update was a rollback of sorts by Google. </p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>What’s the current status of UCG sites? When do sites generally experience <a href= "https://www.seroundtable.com/google-volatility-core-update-spam-update-rollout-36185.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">volatility during an update</a>? Is Google demoting content that it thinks users don’t need as much when they have access to AI resources like Bard? Is Google taking a different route in interpreting users’ search queries? Tune in to hear their thoughts.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>The next topic is <a href= "https://www.mediavine.com/google-helpful-content-update-data/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mediavine’s assessment</a> of Google’s Helpful Content Update. The ad company reports that just 5.8% of its sites were negatively affected, but would Mediavine site owners agree with that statistic? How transparent is the company’s analysis? And was ad density one of the characteristics targeted by Google in the update? Find out what Tony and Jared think.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>Moving on, they discuss <a href= "https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-pushes-deeper-into-ai-publishers-see-fresh-challenges-2023-10-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an article o