11.8% of queries: that is the share Google says its new ranking change noticeably affects, according to a post just published on its official blog. For a single algorithm change, that is considerable. Most updates produce effects that only detailed analysis can detect.
The target is clearly identified: content farms. These sites publish thousands of low-cost articles, each written to match a search phrase, and most offer nothing of value to a reader. The SEO community has been raising concerns about them for a year. Google is now taking action.
This analysis is written from Thailand, between dive theory sessions. Beyond content farms, it focuses on a more common case: the ordinary small business site that turned a four-page brochure into forty pages because the owner was told that more pages meant a stronger presence in Google.
What does Google's content farm update target?
This update is not about links, which usually attract most of the attention in SEO. According to Google, it concerns the quality of the pages themselves. Is the page useful? Original? Does it have depth? Or is it filler designed to capture a search and display advertising?
One detail deserves attention. Last week, Google released a Chrome extension called Personal Blocklist, which lets people block sites they no longer want to see in their results. Google states that it did not use that data for the ranking change, but it compared the two afterwards: the new algorithm addresses 84% of the most-blocked sites. Users and the algorithm therefore largely agree on what constitutes low-quality content, which is an encouraging signal.
For now, the change applies only in the United States. Google plans to extend it to other countries over time. If your customers are mainly in Canada, your site has not yet been affected. We recommend treating this delay as an opportunity to get ahead.
Google usually explains these changes progressively on its Webmaster Central blog, and its guidance on building high-quality sites deserves careful reading. The questions it asks are those of a good editor: would you trust this page? Would you bookmark it?
Why is the forty-page brochure a problem?
This pattern has been visible for years, among Raincity's clients and elsewhere. A plumber, a B&B, a hardware store: a good business with perhaps four important things to communicate. Then a web developer or an SEO package promises better rankings, and the site acquires a page for every town within fifty kilometres. Plumbing in town A. Plumbing in town B. The same text, with only the town name changed.
In other cases, every service page opens with the same paragraph about "quality and customer satisfaction since 1987", with the same meta description on every page because no new ones were written.
Until now, this practice sometimes produced modest results. All indications are that it will now become a liability. If Google is assessing whether pages are thin or copied, forty near-identical pages are exactly what it is looking for.
Why do duplicate descriptions and copied text cause harm?
This problem is easy to miss because the owner never sees it. The meta description is the short text Google often displays under your title in the results. When every page has the same description, or none at all, it signals to Google that the pages are not genuinely distinct. The same applies to blocks of text repeated from page to page.
It is rarely the only problem. It is usually a symptom: the pages exist to fill space.
Why is one strong page worth more than ten thin ones?
This is the recommendation we are making to every small business owner this week.
If you have one thing to say about your service, present it clearly on a single page. Include prices or a price range, your hours, photos of your actual work, and the questions customers really ask you by phone, with straightforward answers. That page will serve you better than ten pages built around keywords, and it will continue to do so after the next update and the ones that follow.
Next, write for the question the customer types, not for the phrase a keyword tool rates as popular. A person dealing with a frozen pipe on a Sunday in January is not searching for "professional plumbing solutions". They type something closer to "frozen pipe what do I do" or "plumber open Sunday", along with the name of their town. Answer that question, in plain language.
Here are the points to check:
- Remove or merge pages that repeat the same content with a different town name.
- Give every page its own title and its own description.
- Replace stock photos and borrowed text with your own content.
- Make sure each page answers at least one real question well.
To determine which pages on your site are actually doing their job, an SEO audit is the fastest method. There are usually fewer than expected.
What developments should be expected?
This update is likely part of a lasting trend. Content farms generate significant revenue and will not disappear on their own. They will adapt, Google will adapt in turn, and further versions of this change should be expected.
Small sites caught in the middle deserve particular attention. A B&B owner with a thin site never intended to build a content farm; they simply followed poor advice. Some will lose traffic without understanding why.
This change is nevertheless good news. For years, some SEO practitioners have recommended "more pages, more keywords". An owner who simply wanted to explain what the business does, honestly and clearly, was told that was not enough. If Google maintains this direction, that approach will be rewarded.
Producing pages keeps getting cheaper. In-depth knowledge of your own business cannot be mass-produced.