Google Update: A Broad New Core

What? Or Huh?

The only thing on Twitter that’s more shocking than an unexpected trending hashtag or an unprecedented presidential tweet is this: an announcement from Google regarding an algorithm update. On June 2, Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, retweeted the following, from the Google Search Liaison official twitter:

Tomorrow, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the June 2019 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this tweet for more about that:

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2019

On his official twitter, Sullivan tweeted:

It’s starting tomorrow, as stated in the tweet. There will also be a follow-up reply to that tweet when it’s actually live, though it might be live a little bit before the follow-up tweet happens.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) June 2, 2019

He followed the tweet with this:

Nothing special or particular “big.” It’s the usual type of core updates that we regularly do. We just wanted to be more proactive. Rather than people scratching their heads after-the-fact and asking “hmm?” we thought it would be good to just let folks know before it rolled out.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) June 2, 2019

Still confused about what this is all about? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

So What is the June 2019 Core Update?

The June 2019 Core Update is an update to Google’s algorithm that will improve the quality of content filtered through Google.

What is a Core Update?

Generally, a core update is one that improves the semantics of Google, resulting in subtle or even unnoticeable changes to most. This is not Google’s first update of this year, as another occurred in March.

Much Ado About Nothing

Despite the waves that announcement of this update has created, Google’s number one suggestion is for people to do, well, nothing in preparation. Their official guidance states that there is nothing to fix.

A Lesson In Focus

Considering the backlash, Google received as recently as two weeks ago for their confession of security errors in storing passwords; some may wonder if this announcement is a tactic to divert attention. Now, I’m not saying to grab your tinfoil hats and start accusing Google of shifting public eye to a seemingly benign update over a serious security error, but it is essential to look at this update in context.

Two weeks earlier, Google announced a faulty security error that has been occurring for the past fourteen years: Google has been storing unhashed passwords for G Suite customers. What does this mean? Well, when you make your password for your G suite (which we really hope is not Password123, but just in case it is), G suite does not store your actual password, they encrypt it. This means they convert it into a series of numbers using an algorithm that only their system can unencrypt. This is called hashing. This is the most secure way to store passwords, and websites such as use it: Facebook, Twitter, Neopets.

However, with Google’s announcement, they have been storing passwords unhashed, meaning in plain text, for the past fourteen years. This means a nefarious hacker can find your Password123 instead of finding 43839434349 in place of your password.

Conclusion

Although Google is striving for transparency on its public platforms on its benign updates, it’s important to remember the context of this transparency. Sometimes a more interesting mistake lay just beneath the surface.