Google Releases Broad Core Update Called: "December 2020 Core Update"

[engine]

Google has just announced a broad core update it's calling "December 2020 Core Update" and we'll be monitoring it and discussing it in our Google Updates and SERP Changes - December 2020 [webmasterworld.com] thread here.

[mobile.twitter.com...]

[engine]

Having done my usual analysis in specific sectors, this update, if done, is looking awful. I see lots of poor quality sites still sitting there, solid as a rock, and making the SERPs look bad.
Google, it's broken, or it's not as intended.

[whoa182]

I was just looking at the top 10 search results for one articles main keyword and noticed that an affiliate site has basically copied 90% of my page word for word and is now ranking at 2 while I'm at 8. I wrote the article 2 years ago, they published it in November.

I've been hit by the core update recently quite bad. But how can this even happen? They even used my featured image.

[engine]

@whoa182, I hope you get that sorted. Theft is rife, but it shouldn't be ranking better.
Google say this update is done, but, really, I don't think it is. I suspect we'll see something going on in early January to correct these problems.

[browndog]

I was just looking at the top 10 search results for one articles main keyword and noticed that an affiliate site has basically copied 90% of my page word for word and is now ranking at 2 while I'm at 8. I wrote the article 2 years ago, they published it in November.

I've been hit by the core update recently quite bad. But how can this even happen? They even used my featured image.

Somebody copied and pasted an article of mine to a FB group and it now outranks my article. It doesn't make sense. Oh, there's also a Pinterest article using my content which outranks me.

[AdrianRozic]

Someone created auto generated video site and their videos are outranking top keywords from my 9yo authority site on this subject. Scary!

[tangor]

Having done my usual analysis in specific sectors, this update, if done, is looking awful. I see lots of poor quality sites still sitting there, solid as a rock, and making the SERPs look bad.

@engine ... what has been corrected/new influence with this change? One thing to remark on the bad that still there, what is the movement in all the other parts?

To me, there's more ideology at work than serp cleanup and functionality of results... That's what I've noticed, others may see something else.

[System]

The following 4 messages were cut out to new thread by engine. New thread at: google/5022136.htm [webmasterworld.com]
2:52 pm on Jan 8, 2021 (utc 0)

[JS_Harris]

Autopsy: It took a bit to gather data but what I see is that the core update involved authority and featured snippets. I saw a site's traffic get cut in half after every single snippet it held was taken away. The site held it's rankings but retained exactly ZERO featured snippets.

All of its "people also asked" entries were also stripped but immediately began being restored, slowly, over the following weeks. The featured snippets did not.