Impact of the Google September 2023 helpful content was big for the SEO industry

Last Thursday, Google finished rolling out the September 2023 helpful content update after a 14-day rollout. The previous two helpful content updates felt somewhat underwhelming for Google Search update standards, but this one did not. This is not to say, I repeat, not to say, that there was not collateral damage, and good, helpful sites, did see a drop in traffic related to the helpful content update. Here is a chart showing the impact of the September helpful content update on the December helpful content update by niche:This next chart shows the peaks of volatility by category during the last helpful content update, with the shopping category seeing the most change:“In comparing peak volatility to the recent Core Update the numbers for the HCU are far less severe. The seoClarity team sent me the top winners and losers by niche/industry from this helpful content update.