November Core Update wrap-up, GSC changes, Site Reputation abuse FAQ, and More

This week has been full of updates and announcements, so let's dive in together:

Updates

• November Core Update rollout complete

The rollout of the November Core update took longer than expected—nearly 3 weeks—and officially concluded on December 5. However, tools have been reporting high search result volatility days after the rollout was finished.

• Site reputation abuse FAQ

In the previous digest, we discussed Google’s expanded site reputation abuse policy and its recommendation against moving penalized content to new locations. Google has now added an FAQ section with detailed guidance on handling such scenarios. Key points include:

• Moving content to a subdirectory or subdomain within the same domain: This doesn't address the underlying issue and may be seen as an attempt to bypass Google’s spam policies, which may potentially lead to broader site penalties.
• Moving content to another established site: This resolves the issue for the original site, but may create reputation abuse concerns for the receiving site, particularly if it has an established reputation and the third-party nature remains unchanged.
• Moving content to a new domain: This is less likely to cause issues if the new domain has no prior reputation and complies with Google’s spam policies.

Reminder: When moving content, you must submit a reconsideration request to lift any manual action. Google also advises against redirecting URLs from the old site to the new one, as this could reintroduce the abuse issue. Instead, link to the new site using the nofollow attribute.

Search

• Delayed indexing in Google Search

On December 9, Google announced indexing delays. They’ll keep posting updates every 12 hours on the Search Status Dashboard (linked in heading).

• Google Search YouTube Summary (pilot)

Glenn Gabe reported on the updated saying: “Google Search is piloting a new format that provides an 'easy to digest summary of YouTube videos based on their queries.’”

Here are the key points from Google’s email to creators:

• New, highly visual video search carousel: When people search queries relevant to your videos, a carousel may appear in Google Search featuring content from you and other YouTube creators.
• Easy to digest summaries: People can expand featured content in the carousel and view a text and image summary of the video. Summaries are created using Al, and will feature the most relevant parts of the video for the given search query.
• Encourages people to engage with your content: The expanded summary will also prompt people to watch your video on YouTube or explore your channel.

GSC

• Google Search Console removes Legacy tools & reports GSC has dropped the "Legacy tools and reports" section from its sidebar navigation. While it isn’t clear when exactly this happened, it likely coincided with the removal of the page experience report in mid-November.

• Google Search Console Links report with large change in links? GSC's link count metrics have seen a dramatic update, with notable increases reported since June.

AI

• The Gemini app for iPhone is live

With Gemini Live, users can engage in natural, conversational interactions, including the ability to interrupt or change topics, and customize the assistant's voice from ten distinct options. 

The app supports over ten languages with plans to expand further. Additionally, Gemini facilitates smarter studying by providing tailored study plans and quizzes, and can generate high-quality images from text descriptions using the Imagen 3 model.

And, of course, the app integrates seamlessly with other Google products like YouTube, Maps, Gmail, and Calendar, allowing users to access relevant information within a single conversation.

• Will the Apple Intelligence integration with Google Gemini happen soon? After the integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT into iOS 18.2, Apple has expressed interest in incorporating other AI models, such as Google's Gemini, into its Apple Intelligence platform. But recent reports indicate that this integration is not expected until sometime in 2025. 

In the meantime, iPhone users can access Google's AI advancements through the standalone Gemini app available, as we already know, on the App Store.

• OpenAI’s Sora goes live

OpenAI’s video generation model, Sora, is now available. 

Sora is included as part of ChatGPT’s Plus account at no additional cost. You can generate up to 50 videos at 480p resolution or fewer videos at 720p each month.

For those who want more Sora, the Pro plan includes 10x more usage, higher resolutions, and longer durations. 

OpenAI adds: This version of Sora still has many limitations. It often generates unrealistic physics and struggles with complex actions over long durations. 

Also, all Sora-generated videos come with C2PA metadata, which will identify a video as coming from Sora to provide transparency, and can be used to verify origin.

Shopping

• Product Studio is now available in 15 new countries

Google’s Product Studio, an AI-powered suite for creating and enhancing product images, has expanded to 15 new countries, bringing its total reach to 30 countries. 

The tool simplifies the process of creating professional product visuals with features like generating lifestyle scenes using AI, enhancing image resolution, and editing backgrounds. 

Accessible via Merchant Center or the Google & YouTube app on Shopify, Product Studio helps businesses create appealing visuals that can attract more customers. More countries and features are expected in the coming months, with a beta program available for early access to new tools.

Tidbits

• Web Almanac SEO chapter

The Web Almanac's SEO chapter provides an in-depth analysis of factors affecting organic search visibility, backed by data from HTTP Archive, Lighthouse, and Chrome User Experience Reports. This is a must-read for shaping next year’s SEO strategy.

• AI Overviews in 2024: Insights and Future Trends

In 2024, we dove into five big research projects to explore AI Overviews from all sorts of angles and even launched our AI Results Tracker. In this article, we’re sharing everything we’ve learned along the way, plus our take on how search could change in 2025.