Google updates in 2022 (Overview)
Tags: seo, googlecloud, marketing
Published: 2023-04-05 12:12:32

In 2022, Google announced an enormous amount of updates (Google updates), but only some of them were officially announced or confirmed. This brief overview outlines the official Google updates for 2022, sorted clearly by type. It may seem that the number of Google search algorithm updates was particularly high during the previous year of 2022. This is not only due to the number of unconfirmed updates but especially because of the updates that Google officially announced and confirmed. In addition to the basic updates, some useful updates to the content itself, product review updates, and several other less communicated updates were announced in 2022. Google itself summarized the list of search algorithm updates on its Google Search Central page in a section “[List of ranking updates](https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history)”.

## Google Core Updates
The following updates generally concern the quality and relevance of websites, particularly those that have been in existence for a long time. The update was rolled out globally and for all languages. In the course of 2022, there were two Google Core updates:

- [May 25, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/05/may-2022-core-update)
- [September 12, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/updates/core-updates)

## Product Reviews Updates
The updates related to websites containing reviews and product tests. The important quality criteria were mainly the reviewers' own experiences and knowledge, as well as original content. Product review updates continue to apply exclusively to content in English and related search queries. Three product review updates were implemented during 2022:

- [March 23, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/03/product-review-ranking-one-year-on)
- [July 27, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/updates/product-reviews-update)
- [September 20, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/updates/product-reviews-update)

## Helpful Content Updates
Specifically, "Helpful Content" updates are designed to highlight content that is valuable for search. Therefore, content created "by people for people" is emphasized. In the course of 2022, this is a particularly interesting update in the context of growing content created by various artificial intelligence tools. While the first update was focused on content in English, the second update of this kind affected all languages ​​worldwide. There were two "Helpful Content" updates in 2022:

- [August 25, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update)
- [December 5, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/updates/helpful-content-update)

## Page Experience Desktop Update
The February update had an impact on desktop versions of websites. It included user experience with websites (also included in Core Web Vitals), the use of HTTPS protocol, and penalized "intrusively" inserted ads within the layout of a web page. The update lasted from approximately February 22 to March 3, 2022. There was one such update in 2022.

- [February 22, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/11/bringing-page-experience-to-desktop)

## Spam Updates
Google regularly updates its algorithm to detect and identify spam. The specific "Spam update" should not be confused with the link spam update, which aims to recognize and devalue unnatural and manipulative links. This year, only one spam update took place, which lasted from October 19 to 21, 2022.

- [October 19, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/updates/spam-updates)

## Link Spam Updates
The update for identifying link spam focused on unnatural links. The [SpamBrain system](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/04/webspam-report-2021#spambrain:-our-most-effective-solution-against-spam) is used to detect link spam. Links that Google recognizes as unnatural are ignored by the algorithm during processing. The only "Link Spam Update" update in 2022 began on December 14, 2022. The deployment process is ongoing and therefore still open.

- [December 14, 2022](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/12/december-22-link-spam-update)

You can find a chronologically ordered list of Google updates in [the form of an infographic created by Oncrawl](https://www.oncrawl.com/oncrawl-infographics/google-algorithm-updates-2022/). Let's wait and see what other updates we can expect in the freshly started year of 2023.