Google’s Latest Updates – Everything You Need to Know in One Place

As a digital marketing agency, staying ahead of Google’s constant updates is essential. If you work in marketing, you will know the frequency in which Google release updates – often when you least expect them. It can be challenging to keep up, and while major Core Algorithm updates grab attention, smaller changes can easily go unnoticed.

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this blog, we break down some of the most recent changes, so all of your answers are in one place – saving you time and research.

 

Google Business Profile – QR Codes

Google has launched a QR code feature for business profiles for easier review collection. Users can now generate a QR code that will take customers directly to their review page, making the process of receiving reviews easier and increasing the likelihood of customers leaving feedback.

Reviews play a crucial role in local SEO because they help improve search rankings, increase visibility and build trust with potential customers. Google considers factors like review quantity, quality, and recency when determining local search rankings. This means that businesses with more positive reviews are likely to appear higher in local search results, than those with less and poorer reviews. Having reviews on your Google Business Profile also encourages engagement and helps to boost CTR to your site. As a business, you should ensure reviews are consistently gathered to enhance your overall online reputation, allowing you to stay competitive in the local market.

By Google introducing a QR code feature, it is now easier than ever to obtain reviews for your Google Business Profile. QR codes can be displayed in physical locations, added to social media posts, emails or business receipts – meaning a wide customer base will be more inclined to leave a review. Today, users rely on reviews more than you think and often people will consider a business’s overall rating before making informed decisions. Ensure you fuel your business growth with regular reviews and consider using this new feature for greater ease.

To access this new feature, go to your Google Business Profile dashboard on your desktop, click the ‘ask for reviews’ option and there you will be able to generate a QR code.

 

Google AI Overviews Upgrade

Google has upgraded its AI Overviews with Gemini 2.0. While currently limited to the United States, this feature is expected to expand to more regions soon. For a more in-depth understanding of AI overviews, have a read of our previous blog.

According to Google, AI Overviews are now one of the most popular search features as they are used by more than a billion people. In a recent blog, they have confirmed that due to its ongoing success, they will continue to advance and improve the experience to make it better than it currently is. Their most recent update is Gemini 2.0, a new tool designed to handle more complex questions, including coding and advanced math queries. It will also be accessible to a broader audience, including teens, as signing in will no longer be required to access AI overviews.

 

Launching ‘AI Mode’

To run alongside this, Google has introduced ‘AI Mode’, which initially is an experimental feature that is available to Google One AI premium subscribers in search labs. This is a paid service for users who would like to turn on advanced AI features. Currently information on this is limited, but here is what we know so far…

AI Mode is powered by Gemini 2.0 and enables users to ask more complex, multi-layered questions, drawing from multiple sources for deeper insights. The idea is for Google to draw from multiple data sources simultaneously to provide the user with the most accurate answer to their question. They hope that this new AI mode feature will make it even easier for people to explore content and find the answers they are looking for.

This new feature has been under testing, and this has now been expanded to a limited opt-in experience in labs. Google One AI premium subscribers are the first to try out this new feature before Google continue to expand its service to more users.

 

March 2025 Google Core Algorithm Update

On March 13th the first of this year’s Google core algorithm updates was announced, following those previous in November and December 2024.

From Google’s spokesperson: “Today we released the March 2025 core update to Google Search. This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites. We also continue our work to surface more content from creators through a series of improvements throughout this year. Some have already happened; additional ones will come later.”

The mention of additional improvements to come later solidifies our expectations and a trend that has been seen in recent years of multiple occurrences of huge ranking shifts in a single year as a result of new algorithms being rolled out.

Things to remember during a new algorithm rollout:

1. Changes in keyword rankings are to be expected.
2. They can be an opportunity to see huge growth via Google's recognition of changes since their last evaluation of your website.
3. Rankings will re-stabilise post-rollout.

This time around, in tune with how these have occurred more recently too, Google has given away minimal information as to the primary goal of this particular algorithmic change. However, given what we have assessed and analysed across recent core updates we predict that the focus of this update will be:

1. User-first prioritisation. User signals recorded in GA4 have been seen to have an increasing impact on ranking position and average ranking position of specific URLs attached to a domain. It is no longer enough to have easily identified keyword phrases, users need to be engaging with your content from the first click.

What does this mean? You should be looking at metrics such as bounce rate, engagement rate, average time spent on page, event count and specific events to decipher how users are interacting with your on-page content.

2. Purposeful content structuring: Some sites have fallen victim to using ‘clickbait’ style content in order to encourage high engagement to boost rankings. Recent data suggests that Google is taking into account the validity and relevance of heading content in association with the paragraphs that follow.

What does this mean? You should be writing insightfully and incorporating structuring methods, like headings, to better direct users to the most relevant parts of your content for them.  

3. Organic creation: We know in the past, this time last year specifically for the March 2024 core update, that mass-produced AI content was heavily penalised. While Goole Search Centrals’ guidance pages do not explicitly mention AI currently, it is implicitly discussed through phrases such as ‘mass-produced’, ‘outsourced’ ‘sloppy’ ‘hastily’ in assessment of content quality.

What does this mean? Your long-form website content, such as news articles, blogs etc, should be original and include research and analysis to show a comprehensive understanding that differs from information available in a number of other places online.

It is important to remember though that Google Core algorithm updates don’t have to be something to be scared of – in a lot of cases they provide an opportunity for growth and recognition that your website deserves. Having an SEO Agency, like ourselves, on-side in times of high volatility can help to provide your business with reassurance that best practices are being followed, and when advice and direction have been taken, your site should instead see increased traction and growth in the weeks following rollout.

If you don’t want to take our word for it, here is one of our client’s position tracking reports since July last year – seeing steady growth overall, despite four Google Core algorithm updates occurring in the given period.

 

What does this mean for marketing?

These updates highlight Google’s ongoing push towards enhanced user experience, AI-drive search and local business optimisation. For marketers, you should consider your current strategies to leverage these new features effectively. As it currently stands, in the UK we will only be able to use the new QR code feature, but integrating this across your business or for your clients will help to improve local SEO results.

To prepare for changes with Google AI Overview, marketers should optimise content for AI Overviews to ensure their website and the websites of their clients’ land in the overview. Ensuring content is authoritative, well-structured and informational in intent will encourage Google to pull this for the overview. This also works to help your chances of succeeding in a Google Core update. 

Staying ahead of these changes will be key for brands looking to maximise visibility, engagement and customer trust. If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency to help you remain one step ahead of your competitors, get in touch with a member of our team today. We are proud to be Google-certified.