{"id":1821,"slug":"google-qdf-freshness-conditional-ranking-factor","title":"Google \"Query Deserves Freshness\" + 2024 leaked Content API documentation — recency is a CONDITIONAL ranking factor (strongest for time-sensitive queries; substantive updates only)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["structured-content","freshness","algorithm-updates"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Google's **\"Query Deserves Freshness\" (QDF)** behaviour and the **2024 leaked Content API documentation** both indicate recency is a **conditional ranking factor** — strongest for time-sensitive queries, and requiring **substantive updates** (not cosmetic date changes).\n\n**Source:** Google documentation history; 2024 Content Warehouse API leak coverage.\n\n**Confidence:** Industry-consensus.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** The \"conditional\" + \"substantive\" qualifiers are the operational lesson. Anchors [[rule-keep-frequently-updated-content-fresh-substantively-not-cosmetically]] — cosmetic date bumps don't count, and freshness only helps where the query is time-sensitive.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"ahrefs-ai-cited-urls-1064-vs-1432-days-fresher","title":"Ahrefs (16.975M citations across 7 AI platforms) — average age of AI-cited URLs 1,064 days vs 1,432 days for organic top-10: 25.7% \"fresher\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-website-as-working-surface-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the website as a working surface of the business — four capabilities, AI-citation decoupling, freshness as a real signal (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"capability-live-frequently-updated-data","title":"Capability 3 — live or frequently-updated data: content whose value depends on currency (availability, pricing, status, hours, inventory) refreshed on a cadence rather than written once","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-keep-frequently-updated-content-fresh-substantively-not-cosmetically","title":"R4 — Keep frequently-updated content fresh SUBSTANTIVELY, not cosmetically; cadence at least every 60–90 days for the pages that matter","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.704Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.704Z"}