Google Algorithm Updates: The Dated List Since 2003, and What to Do After Each
- October 31, 2026
- Algorithm Updates
TL;DR
This is a searchable list of 727 dated Google Search updates, from November 2003 to October 27, 2026. Every entry has a date and a source, says whether Google confirmed it, and links to what to do after that type of update.
- 229 entries are confirmed by Google: 135 on its own pages, 94 in public statements reported by the press. 483 are only reported, and on 15 Google denied it or played it down.
- The latest confirmed update is the September 2026 spam update, rolled out September 24 to October 8, 2026.
- Core updates take a median of 14 days to roll out, across 16 with Google's own dates. Wait 1 more week before you judge one.
- Checked October 31, 2026 against Google's Status Dashboard.
Updates per year
Click a year to filter the list.
Core update rollouts, in days
Google's own dates, newest first. Click one to open it.
Spam update rollouts, in days
Google's own dates, newest first. Click one to open it.
What the dates show
Worked out from this list on October 31, 2026.
- Core updates: 16 with Google's dates, median 14 days, from 6 days (December 2024) to 45 days (March 2024).
- Spam updates: 11 with Google's dates, median 7 days, from under a day (March 2026) to 27 days (August 2025).
- Gap between core updates: median 95 days from the end of one to the start of the next. None of the 15 started before the previous one had finished. The longest wait was 176 days, November 2021 to May 2022.
- Start days: none of the 25 updates on the dashboard since March 2023 started on a weekend.
- Reported waves: 18 of 473 fell inside a confirmed rollout. 37 were reported in the last 12 months, against 3 core updates in the same time.
202641 entries, 10 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Wincher, Semrush, cognitiveSEO, Advanced Web Ranking, Wireboard, Serpstat, SERP Recon, MozCast, Similarweb, Sistrix, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Wincher, cognitiveSEO, Semrush, Wireboard, Advanced Web Ranking, Serpstat, SERP Recon, Sistrix, Similarweb, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Wincher, Advanced Web Ranking, cognitiveSEO, Wireboard, Semrush, Serpstat, Similarweb, Algoroo, Sistrix. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Wincher, cognitiveSEO, Advanced Web Ranking, Wireboard, Serpstat, Semrush, Similarweb, Sistrix, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
September 2026 spam update
Rolled out September 24 to October 8, 2026: 14 days
Google said the update applies globally to all languages. Reports said John Mueller expected a longer run than the earlier 2026 spam updates, then described volatility on September 25 to 27, September 30 and October 4 to 6, with some calling it core-update-like.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 17 to September 23, 2026 with October 9 to October 15, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, September 24, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 8, 2026
Google announced the September 2026 spam update the next day. Trackers shown in the report: cognitiveSEO, Wincher, Wireboard, Advanced Web Ranking, Serpstat, Semrush, Similarweb, Algoroo, Sistrix. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, cognitiveSEO, Wireboard, Wincher, Serpstat, Advanced Web Ranking, Semrush, Similarweb, Algoroo, Sistrix. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Wireboard, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Site reputation policy updated
After talks with the European Commission, Google changed enforcement of its site reputation policy in the EEA from August 30: manual actions there will not affect results, though the section may rank separately over time. Outside the EEA, they still affect results.
Source: Google Search Central blog
August 2026 spam update
Rolled out August 18 to August 21, 2026: 3 days
Google said the update applies globally to all languages and could take a few days. Reports said Google called it a normal spam update, and that John Mueller denied claims by some people that it began before the announcement.
Dates to compare in Search Console: August 11 to August 17, 2026 with August 22 to August 28, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, August 18, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 21, 2026
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Advanced Web Ranking, cognitiveSEO, Wireboard, MozCast, Serpstat, Wincher, Similarweb, Algoroo, Semrush, Sistrix. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Wireboard, Advanced Web Ranking, cognitiveSEO, Wincher, Serpstat, Sistrix, Similarweb, MozCast, Algoroo, Semrush. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Sistrix, Wireboard, cognitiveSEO, Wincher, Serpstat, Similarweb, Algoroo, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Semrush. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Advanced Web Ranking, Wincher, Wireboard, MozCast, cognitiveSEO, Serpstat, Sistrix, Similarweb, Algoroo, Semrush. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Advanced Web Ranking, Wireboard, Wincher, MozCast, cognitiveSEO, Serpstat, Similarweb, Semrush, Algoroo, Sistrix. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (7-Eleven)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: cognitiveSEO, Wincher, Serpstat, Sistrix, Similarweb, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Algoroo, Semrush. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
June 2026 spam update
Rolled out June 24 to June 26, 2026: 2 days
Google said the update applies globally to all languages and could take a few days. Reports quoted Google calling it a normal spam update, and said it felt more widespread than usual and seemed to begin before the announcement.
Dates to compare in Search Console: June 17 to June 23, 2026 with June 27 to July 3, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, June 24, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 26, 2026
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Advanced Web Ranking, Wireboard, Wincher, cognitiveSEO, MozCast, Serpstat, Sistrix, Similarweb, Algoroo, Semrush. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 17, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 21, 2026
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Wireboard, Serpstat, Advanced Web Ranking. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 8, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 12, 2026
May 2026 core update
Rolled out May 21 to June 2, 2026: 12 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 2 weeks. Reports said impact landed over the first weekend, with owners posting 50% drops, then spiked May 30 and June 2, leaving it feeling larger than the March 2026 core update.
Dates to compare in Search Console: May 14 to May 20, 2026 with June 3 to June 9, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, May 21, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 2, 2026
On this site: Google May 2026 Core Update: What We Learned After the Dust Settled
Reported ranking update (I/O)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Back button hijacking becomes a spam policy
Google made back button hijacking an explicit violation of its malicious practices spam policy, which can bring manual actions or automatic demotion. Site owners get 2 months of notice before enforcement starts on June 15, 2026.
Source: Google Search Central blog
March 2026 core update
Rolled out March 27 to April 8, 2026: 12 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 2 weeks. Reports quoted Google calling it a regular update, and one report judged it weaker than the December 2025 update, landing slowly and moving most tracked sites only modestly, though some surged or dropped.
Dates to compare in Search Console: March 20 to March 26, 2026 with April 9 to April 15, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, March 27, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 8, 2026
On this site: Google March 2026 Core Update: What Changed and What to Do
March 2026 spam update
Rolled out March 24 to March 25, 2026: 1 day
Google said the update applies globally to all languages and could take a few days. Reports quoted Google calling it a normal spam update, and said it did not target link spam or the site reputation abuse policy.
Dates to compare in Search Console: March 17 to March 23, 2026 with March 26 to April 1, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, March 25, 2026
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Serving issue on Google's side
Google said search results serving was experiencing an issue, then reported a fix about a minute later and said there would be no more updates.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
February 2026 Discover update
Rolled out February 5 to February 27, 2026: 22 days
A broad core update to the systems behind Discover, released first to English-language users in the US. It aims to show more locally relevant content, less sensational content and clickbait, and more in-depth original content from sites with expertise.
Dates to compare in Search Console: January 29 to February 4, 2026 with February 28 to March 6, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, February 5, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 27, 2026
John Mueller said he had no insights or updates to share on the reported ranking drops. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, comments on the post, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 2, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 4, 2026
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 27, 2026 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 30, 2026
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
202551 entries, 11 confirmed by Google
December 2025 core update
Rolled out December 11 to December 29, 2025: 18 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 3 weeks. Reports said the strongest day was December 13, with a second surge on December 20, while delayed Search Console reporting made tracking harder; one site owner reported zero affiliate sales on a travel site.
Dates to compare in Search Console: December 4 to December 10, 2025 with December 30, 2025 to January 5, 2026.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, December 11, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 29, 2025
On this site: Google December 2025 Core Update: Closing a Volatile Year
Google documents smaller core updates it does not announce
Google added wording to its core updates documentation saying it keeps making smaller core updates that it does not announce, so sites that improve content can gain without waiting for the next major update. It had said the same in 2019.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 10, 2025 · Google documentation
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Thanksgiving)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Reported ranking update (Gemini 3)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
AI Mode moves to Gemini 3
Google began running AI Mode in Search on Gemini 3, the first time a new Gemini model shipped in Search on launch day, adding generative layouts. Smarter routing of hard questions to it was promised for AI Mode and AI Overviews.
Confirmed by: Sundar Pichai and Robby Stein, Google
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Movember)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Reported ranking update (Halloween)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Local Search Forum.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Serving issue on Google's side
Rolled out October 3 to October 6, 2025: 3 days
A data center problem could disrupt how some pages were served in particular locales. Google first said it was finding the cause, later worked on a fix, and then reported that the issue resolved itself.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
August 2025 spam update
Rolled out August 26 to September 22, 2025: 27 days
Google said it applies globally to all languages and could take a few weeks. Reports said impact appeared by August 27, Glenn Gabe tied one drop to programmatic, doorway and spun content, and a second wave around September 9 brought ranking and indexing complaints.
Dates to compare in Search Console: August 19 to August 25, 2025 with September 23 to September 29, 2025.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, August 27, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 22, 2025
On this site: Google August 2025 Spam Update: What It Targeted and How to Recover
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
June 2025 core update
Rolled out June 30 to July 17, 2025: 17 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 3 weeks. Reports said movement began July 2, and from about July 6 some sites hit by the September 2023 helpful content update partly recovered, regaining rich snippets, while many others saw declines.
Dates to compare in Search Console: June 23 to June 29, 2025 with July 18 to July 24, 2025.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, July 1, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 17, 2025
On this site: Google June 2025 Core Update: A Longer, Volatile Rollout
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Serving issue: Lens, Discover and Voice Search
Voice Search, Discover and Google Lens results were not served properly for some users. Google worked on finding the root cause and then confirmed a fix.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Indexing issue on Google's side
Google Search had a problem indexing fresh content, so sites may have seen slower than usual indexing times. Google then confirmed a fix.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, comments on the post.
Ranking changes for explicit content and SafeSearch
Google updated ranking to hit harder at sites that publish explicit videos yet block Googlebot from fetching them, warning of a big drop, especially in Video mode. It also revised its SafeSearch documentation with best practices for explicit content.
Confirmed by: Google, per Search Engine Roundtable
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (I/O)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
AI Mode rolls out in the US
Google began launching AI Mode across the U.S. with no Labs sign-up, calling it its strongest AI search experience, with deeper reasoning, multimodal input and follow-up questions. It splits a question into subtopics and runs many searches at once.
Source: Google The Keyword blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
March 2025 core update
Rolled out March 13 to March 27, 2025: 14 days
Reports quoted Google calling this a regular update for surfacing relevant content from all types of sites, and said it did not cause the movement seen from March 6. Tracking tools spiked March 21 amid tool problems; polls showed most sites unchanged.
Dates to compare in Search Console: March 6 to March 12, 2025 with March 28 to April 3, 2025.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, March 14, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 31, 2025
On this site: Google March 2025 Core Update: What Rolled Out and How to Respond
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: Local Search Forum, WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 19, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 20, 2025
Reported ranking update (Super Bowl)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 27, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 30, 2025
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 12, 2025 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 14, 2025
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: BrightLocal. People talking on: X, Local Search Forum.
202462 entries, 24 confirmed by Google
Reported ranking update (New Years)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
December 2024 spam update
Rolled out December 19 to December 26, 2024: 7 days
Google said the update applies globally to all languages and could take up to 1 week. Reports said site owners posted deindexing, deranking and 50% traffic drops, and tracking tools ran hotter over Christmas than they had for the December core update.
Dates to compare in Search Console: December 12 to December 18, 2024 with December 27, 2024 to January 2, 2025.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, December 20, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 26, 2024
Google says core updates will come more often
At Search Central Live in Zurich, a Google speaker said core updates will come more often. Danny Sullivan was quoted describing the aim as turning updates into a steady, ongoing process rather than big events.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan and a Google speaker at Search Central Live Zurich
Google Lens serving issue
Rolled out December 12 to December 13, 2024: 1 day
Google Lens results were not served properly for all users. Google identified the cause, said it had been mitigated and systems were becoming stable, then confirmed a fix.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
December 2024 core update
Rolled out December 12 to December 18, 2024: 6 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 2 weeks. Reports quoted Google explaining that it keeps improving different core systems, hence a December update after November's. Tools showed big movement December 14 and 15, which one report judged bigger than November's.
Dates to compare in Search Console: December 5 to December 11, 2024 with December 19 to December 25, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, December 13, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 19, 2024
Indexing issue on Google's side
Delayed indexing hit a small number of sites. Google identified the cause, worked on a fix, then said it was fixed and that the listed start and end times would be adjusted to match the real impact.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Site reputation abuse policy widened
Google clarified its site reputation abuse policy: using third-party content to exploit a host site's ranking signals violates it, even when the host has some first-party involvement or oversight. The new wording took effect that day.
Source: Google Search Central blog
November 2024 core update
Rolled out November 11 to December 5, 2024: 24 days
Google said it could take up to 2 weeks. Reports quoted Google saying the update favors content people find useful over content made just to rank. Movement started slowly, widened around November 16 and 17, calmed, then spiked again November 25 and 26.
Dates to compare in Search Console: November 4 to November 10, 2024 with December 6 to December 12, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, November 12, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 6, 2024
Reported ranking update (Election)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Halloween)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Serving issue on Google's side
A serving problem hit a large number of people searching in the Google app on Android. Google said affected users could try clearing the app cache and data, and later confirmed a fix.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google confirms core updates affect AI Overviews
Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google's core updates, including the August 2024 one, directly affect whether a site appears in AI Overviews, and said Google confirmed it. Glenn Gabe documented a site that dropped from AI Overviews after that core update.
Confirmed by: Google, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable
Ranking bug during the August 2024 core update
Rolled out August 15 to August 20, 2024: 4 days
A ranking problem affected many search results. Google said it knew the root cause and that the problem was separate from the core update in progress at the time.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, August 16, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 20, 2024
August 2024 core update
Rolled out August 15 to September 3, 2024: 19 days
Google said the update continues its quality work, showing more useful content and less made to perform well in Search, and reflects months of creator feedback. It aims to surface small and independent sites with useful, original content.
Dates to compare in Search Console: August 8 to August 14, 2024 with September 4 to September 10, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 16, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 4, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 16, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 20, 2024
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Reported ranking update (DOJ)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Data For SEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Explicit deepfake ranking changes
Google updated ranking for queries at higher risk of showing explicit fake content, lowering such results and surfacing news and other non-explicit pages instead. It reported that explicit image results on those queries show up over 70 percent less this year.
Confirmed by: Emma Higham, Google Product Manager
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 24, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 24, 2024
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Indexing issue on Google's side
Indexing of fresh content in Google Search ran slower than usual for a small number of sites, and Google later confirmed it had fixed the problem.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
June 2024 spam update
Rolled out June 20 to June 27, 2024: 7 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 1 week. Reports quoted Google calling it a normal spam update, not link spam and not the automated site reputation abuse policy, and said early reaction from creators and SEOs was negative.
Dates to compare in Search Console: June 13 to June 19, 2024 with June 28 to July 4, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, June 21, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 28, 2024
Indexing issue on Google's side
Google investigated reports of delayed indexing in Search, found and fixed the cause, and said some sites could still see slower indexing until the affected URLs were processed again.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Reported ranking update (Father's Day)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Serving issue on Google's side
Rolled out May 30 to May 31, 2024: 1 day
Some Google Search features had a serving problem. Google said it identified the issue and was working on a fix, then confirmed it was fixed.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google narrows AI Overviews after bad answers
Google responded to odd and wrong AI Overviews shared on social media, saying it takes the feedback seriously. It explained that the feature is tied to its core web ranking systems and built to show information backed by top web results.
Source: Google The Keyword blog
Reported ranking update (Memorial Day)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
AI Overviews launch in the US
Google started a U.S.-wide release of AI Overviews, with more countries promised soon, powered by a Gemini model customized for Search. It said links shown inside AI Overviews earn more clicks than the same page would as an ordinary result.
Source: Google The Keyword blog
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
During the rollout of March 2024 core update.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
During the rollout of March 2024 core update.
Spam policies: scaled content, expired domains, site reputation
Google announced 3 new spam policies: scaled content abuse, expired domain abuse and site reputation abuse. Violators may rank lower or not appear at all, and Search Engine Roundtable said site reputation abuse action would wait until May 5, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Google The Keyword blog · Search Engine Roundtable, March 6, 2024
March 2024 spam update
Rolled out March 5 to March 20, 2024: 15 days
A spam update launched together with the new spam policies, aimed at scaled content abuse and expired domain abuse, with site reputation abuse enforcement set for a later date. Search Engine Roundtable said it was global, covering all regions and languages.
Dates to compare in Search Console: February 27 to March 4, 2024 with March 21 to March 27, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, March 12, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 21, 2024
March 2024 core update
Rolled out March 5 to April 19, 2024: 45 days
A more complex core update that changed multiple core ranking systems and how Google identifies helpful content, aimed at showing less content built to draw clicks. Google expected 40 percent less low-quality, unoriginal content, and later reported 45 percent.
Dates to compare in Search Console: February 27 to March 4, 2024 with April 20 to April 26, 2024.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, March 6, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 30, 2024
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Indexing issue on Google's side
Rolled out January 31 to February 8, 2024: 8 days
An indexing problem affected a small number of sites and could slow how fast their pages were indexed. Google said it was mitigated and systems were stable while a fix was still in progress, then confirmed the fix.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Weekend ranking bug confirmed
Some sites, often on non-standard TLDs, lost rankings on weekends and regained them on weekdays. Google confirmed a very narrow issue caused temporary fluctuations for a small number of sites and said it was resolved.
Confirmed by: Google statement reported by Search Engine Roundtable
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 21, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 24, 2024
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google homepage issue for some Firefox users
Rolled out January 8 to January 9, 2024: 1 day
The Google homepage had a problem for people using Firefox on Android. Google said it did not affect how sites appear in Google Search, identified the cause, and later confirmed a fix.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Rank Flux, Local RankFlux, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 8, 2024 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 8, 2024
202355 entries, 22 confirmed by Google
Reported ranking update (New Years)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Christmas)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Indexing issue on Google's side
Delayed indexing hit a small number of sites. Google fixed the cause, but said some sites could still see slow indexing until the affected URLs were reprocessed.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: Local Search Forum.
During the rollout of November 2023 reviews update.
Video mode limited to pages where video is the main content
Google limited Video mode to pages built around the video, extending an earlier change for video thumbnails. Pages where video is only supplementary will report no indexed video in Search Console, so indexed video counts will fall.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Mangools, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of November 2023 reviews update.
Hidden gems ranking change
Google said its hidden gems work, which promotes authentic first-hand content from forums, blogs and social media, had been rolling out inside core updates for months. Brad Kellett said it is a separate ranking change from the helpful content system.
Confirmed by: Brad Kellett, Google Search, to Search Engine Roundtable
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 16, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 11, 2023
November 2023 reviews update
Rolled out November 8 to December 7, 2023: 29 days
Google said it would stop posting future reviews updates on the dashboard because the reviews system is now improved at a steady, ongoing pace, and pointed to its guidance on writing high quality reviews.
Dates to compare in Search Console: November 1 to November 7, 2023 with December 8 to December 14, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, November 9, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 8, 2023
November 2023 core update
Rolled out November 2 to November 28, 2023: 26 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 2 weeks. Reports said it came as a surprise so soon after the October core update, turned volatile within days, looked stronger than October's, and ran through Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Dates to compare in Search Console: October 26 to November 1, 2023 with November 29 to December 5, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, November 6, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 29, 2023
Mobile-first indexing finished
Google said its move to mobile-first indexing is complete. A tiny group of sites that do not work on mobile is still crawled with legacy desktop Googlebot, and Search Console dropped its indexing crawler setting.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Serving issue on Google's side
A serving problem meant people could see an error page when they searched on Google. Google said it was working on a fix and then confirmed the issue was fixed.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Wincher, Similarweb, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 25, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 27, 2023
October 2023 core update
Rolled out October 5 to October 19, 2023: 14 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 2 weeks. Reports said it overlapped the October 2023 spam update, saw little movement at first, then large swings on October 9 and 10 and again the next weekend, with many SEOs and sites hit hard.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 28 to October 4, 2023 with October 20 to October 26, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, October 6, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 20, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 2, 2023
Indexing issue on Google's side
A delay hit how quickly newly published pages were indexed. Google said it was working to find the root cause and later marked the issue resolved.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Discover bug during the October 2023 core update
Rolled out October 5 to October 31, 2023: 26 days
Google found a bug affecting Discover traffic that came with the October 2023 core update. After the fix, it said some sites may see Discover traffic rise.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, November 2, 2023
October 2023 spam update
Rolled out October 4 to October 19, 2023: 16 days
Google updated its spam detection systems to improve coverage across many languages and spam types, using community reports in languages such as Turkish, Vietnamese and Hindi. It expects less visible cloaking, hacked, automatically generated and scraped spam.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 27 to October 3, 2023 with October 20 to October 26, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, October 5, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 20, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Wincher, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
September 2023 helpful content update
Rolled out September 14 to September 28, 2023: 13 days
Google said the update improves its classifier. Reports said tracking tools stayed calm while forum posters reported traffic drops of 40% to 80% or more, and one report concluded it went after content made for search engines first.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 7 to September 13, 2023 with September 29 to October 5, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, September 15, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 28, 2023
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Wincher, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Language matching systems update
Google confirmed an update to its language matching systems to improve how results line up with the language of the search while still allowing multiple languages. Danny Sullivan said it applies to every language and region.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on X
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 8, 2023 · Google Search Central blog
August 2023 core update
Rolled out August 22 to September 7, 2023: 16 days
Google said it could take up to 2 weeks. Reports said it started slowly, hit some sites hard on August 25 with visibility changes of 20% to 80%, and looked narrower than earlier core updates; smaller waves followed August 30 to September 1.
Dates to compare in Search Console: August 15 to August 21, 2023 with September 8 to September 14, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, August 23, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 8, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Wincher, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
HowTo and FAQ rich results cut back
Google cut back FAQ rich results to well-known government and health sites and limited How-To rich results to desktop. A September 14 update said How-To results were dropped from desktop too, making the type deprecated.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Wincher, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat, Wincher. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 24, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 27, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 16, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 18, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, comments on the post, X.
Google News indexing issue
Rolled out June 21 to July 14, 2023: 24 days
An indexing problem in Google News affected all sites and could cut their traffic from Google News. Google said it identified the cause, applied a fix, watched the result, and then confirmed the problem was fixed.
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard
Reported ranking update (Father's Day)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Reported ranking update (I/O)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Search Generative Experience announced (SGE)
Google announced its generative AI search test, opened first through a Search Labs sign-up, which shows an AI-written snapshot with links and lets people ask follow-up questions in a conversational mode.
Source: Google The Keyword blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Page experience dropped from the ranking systems guide
Google added page experience advice to its helpful content guidance and revised its page experience help page, with no major new aspects. Search Engine Roundtable reported 4 systems were dropped from the ranking systems guide: page experience, secure sites, page speed and mobile-friendly ranking.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 21, 2023
April 2023 reviews update
Rolled out April 12 to April 25, 2023: 13 days
The update now covers reviews of services and other things, not only products. Google also pointed site owners to its guidance on writing high quality reviews.
Dates to compare in Search Console: April 5 to April 11, 2023 with April 26 to May 2, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, April 13, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 26, 2023
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Ranking updates added to the Search Status Dashboard
Google added a Ranking section to its Search Status Dashboard, next to crawling, indexing and serving, to list confirmed ranking updates. The Search Central account said the older updates page was being merged into it, with history back to 2020.
Confirmed by: Google Search Central on X
March 2023 core update
Rolled out March 15 to March 28, 2023: 13 days
Google said the rollout could take up to 2 weeks. Reports described a fast start, with tracking tools showing large volatility on March 16, renewed swings around March 23 and 24, and a local SEO seeing most local pack changes near the end.
Dates to compare in Search Console: March 8 to March 14, 2023 with March 29 to April 4, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, March 16, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 10, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of February 2023 product reviews update.
February 2023 product reviews update
Rolled out February 21 to March 7, 2023: 14 days
Google said the update applies globally to 11 languages, including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Polish. Reports called it the sixth product reviews update, widening coverage beyond English, and noted it can affect Google Discover.
Dates to compare in Search Console: February 14 to February 20, 2023 with March 8 to March 14, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, February 22, 2023 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 8, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
During the rollout of December 2022 link spam update.
202248 entries, 16 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
During the rollout of December 2022 link spam update.
E-E-A-T, Experience added to rater guidelines
Google's updated quality rater guidelines add Experience to E-A-T, making it E-E-A-T, with clearer guidance on original, helpful content. Google said raters use the guidelines to evaluate ranking systems, and they are not a direct ranking input.
Source: Google Search Central blog
December 2022 link spam update
Rolled out December 14, 2022 to January 12, 2023: 29 days
Google used its AI-based SpamBrain system to cancel out the effect of unnatural links, which can now spot link buyers and sites that exist to pass links out. It applies to all languages, and rankings may shift as link credit is lost.
Dates to compare in Search Console: December 7 to December 13, 2022 with January 13 to January 19, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, December 15, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 19, 2022
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of December 2022 helpful content update.
December 2022 helpful content update
Rolled out December 5, 2022 to January 12, 2023: 38 days
The update refined the classifier behind the helpful content system, and Google said it covers every language worldwide.
Dates to compare in Search Console: November 28 to December 4, 2022 with January 13 to January 19, 2023.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, December 7, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 21, 2022
Reported ranking update (Thanksgiving)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google publishes a guide to its ranking systems
Google created a single guide page describing its more notable ranking systems, live and retired. It also said it will word things more carefully, treating a helpful content update as an update to the helpful content system.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, November 22, 2022
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google names Coati, a Panda successor
Hyung-Jin Kim, a Google Search vice president, said at SMX Next that Panda evolved into an internal system called Coati, which sits inside Google's core ranking system but is not a core update. Nothing new was launched.
Confirmed by: Hyung-Jin Kim, Google Search VP, at SMX Next
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
October 2022 spam update
Rolled out October 19 to October 21, 2022: 2 days
Google said the update is worldwide and covers all languages. Reports said the first day showed very little movement in chatter or tracking tools, while some site owners reported being hit hard, so the impact looked narrow.
Dates to compare in Search Console: October 12 to October 18, 2022 with October 22 to October 28, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, October 20, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 21, 2022
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
September 2022 product reviews update
Rolled out September 20 to September 26, 2022: 6 days
Google released its September 2022 product reviews update. Its dashboard entry gives the scope as English-language product reviews and shows the rollout as complete.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 13 to September 19, 2022 with September 27 to October 3, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, September 28, 2022
September 2022 core update
Rolled out September 12 to September 26, 2022: 14 days
Google released a core update. Reports said it began three days after the helpful content update finished, applied to all languages and regions, and showed widespread volatility early, with some reports of 20% to 60% traffic drops.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 5 to September 11, 2022 with September 27 to October 3, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, September 13, 2022
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X, Local Search Forum.
During the rollout of August 2022 helpful content update.
August 2022 helpful content update
Rolled out August 25 to September 9, 2022: 15 days
Google began rolling out the ranking change it announced on August 18, which favors pages that leave visitors satisfied and gives less weight to pages built mainly for search engines.
Dates to compare in Search Console: August 18 to August 24, 2022 with September 10 to September 16, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog
Google announces the helpful content update
Google announced a coming ranking update that rewards content leaving visitors satisfied, while content made mainly for search engines is expected to perform worse. Search Engine Roundtable reported it as sitewide and English-language at launch.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 19, 2022
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
July 2022 product reviews update
Rolled out July 27 to August 2, 2022: 6 days
Google said it covers English-language product reviews. Reports placed the impact around July 29, with Vlad Rappoport noting review sites losing star snippets, while tracking tools stayed quiet until August 3, a movement later said to be unrelated.
Dates to compare in Search Console: July 20 to July 26, 2022 with August 3 to August 9, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, July 28, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 5, 2022
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Juneteenth)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 21, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 23, 2022
Title links for mixed language pages
Google added an algorithm change for pages whose title uses a different language or writing system than the page text, picking a title closer to the page's main language. Examples: Hindi plus English titles, and Hindi typed in Latin letters.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, June 7, 2022
May 2022 core update
Rolled out May 25 to June 9, 2022: 15 days
A broad update to Google's overall ranking processes, meant to make results more relevant and helpful. Google said the changes were not aimed at particular pages or sites, and pages that dropped had not broken spam policies.
Dates to compare in Search Console: May 18 to May 24, 2022 with June 10 to June 16, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, May 26, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 13, 2022
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Mother's Day)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Reported ranking update (Spring Break)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, April 19, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 21, 2022
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
March 2022 product reviews update
Rolled out March 23 to April 6, 2022: 14 days
Google released a product reviews update. Reports said it covered English-language pages only, with more languages planned. Movement was mild at first, then picked up March 31 and April 5, with Glenn Gabe and Lily Ray charting review sites that surged or dropped.
Dates to compare in Search Console: March 16 to March 22, 2022 with April 7 to April 13, 2022.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, March 24, 2022 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 12, 2022
Local update correcting Vicinity
Local pack trackers showed a spike, and Joy Hawkins wrote in a local search forum that it looked like a partial reversal of the earlier Vicinity update, which had filtered businesses with keyword-rich names. Google had not confirmed it.
Danny Sullivan said after checking internally that nothing specific was happening, only the routine constant updates. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Page experience update for desktop
Rolled out February 22 to March 3, 2022: 9 days
Google brought page experience into desktop ranking using the same 3 Core Web Vitals metrics and thresholds as mobile, plus HTTPS and no intrusive interstitials. Mobile-friendliness stays a mobile-only factor and does not count for desktop.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, December 2, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 28, 2023
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Pirate DMCA demotion strengthened
Google told the U.S. Copyright Office that its demotion signal for sites with many takedown notices now catches redirects to a new domain and adds a flag for content still in theaters. Demoted sites lose 89 percent of search traffic on average.
Confirmed by: Google filing to the U.S. Copyright Office
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: X, WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
202156 entries, 16 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of December 2021 product reviews update.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
During the rollout of December 2021 product reviews update.
December 2021 product reviews update
Rolled out December 1 to December 21, 2021: 20 days
Google released the first major product reviews update since April, which can lift sites that improved their review content. It added 2 best practices for a later update: show evidence of hands-on testing, and consider linking to several sellers.
Dates to compare in Search Console: November 24 to November 30, 2021 with December 22 to December 28, 2021.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, December 2, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 22, 2021
November 2021 local update, called Vicinity
Rolled out November 30 to December 8, 2021: 8 days
Google rebalanced several factors it uses to produce local search results, in a global update. Local SEO Joy Hawkins, who named it Vicinity, said it mostly made proximity count more and shrank map packs to show a broader mix of businesses.
Confirmed by: Google Search Central on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 17, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 9, 2021
November 2021 core update
Rolled out November 17 to November 30, 2021: 13 days
Google released a core update. Reports said big changes appeared within 48 hours, with more spikes around Thanksgiving. A Marie Haynes poll of 600+ votes had 48% seeing little change, 21% declines and 19% gains; affected sites reported 20% to 90% swings.
Dates to compare in Search Console: November 10 to November 16, 2021 with December 1 to December 7, 2021.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, November 17, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 30, 2021
November 2021 spam update
Rolled out November 3 to November 11, 2021: 8 days
Google released this as a spam update to its systems. Reports quoted Google's tweet saying it would be fully out within a week, and Danny Sullivan describing spam updates as aimed at content that breaks Google's guidelines.
Dates to compare in Search Console: October 27 to November 2, 2021 with November 12 to November 18, 2021.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard · Search Engine Roundtable, November 4, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 15, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 18, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of July 2021 link spam update.
Google rewrites more title links
Google switched to a new system for generating the title shown for a page, so titles generally no longer change with the searcher's query. It draws more on visible headings and large text, though HTML title tags are still used in most cases.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 25, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
During the rollout of July 2021 link spam update.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: X, WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of July 2021 link spam update.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, August 5, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 9, 2021
July 2021 link spam update
Rolled out July 26 to August 24, 2021: 29 days
Google released an algorithm update that better finds and ignores link spam across languages, so spammy links get re-assessed and sites involved may see changes. Google also reminded site owners to mark affiliate, sponsored and guest-post links with the right rel values.
Dates to compare in Search Console: July 19 to July 25, 2021 with August 25 to August 31, 2021.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, July 27, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 25, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
July 2021 core update
Rolled out July 1 to July 12, 2021: 11 days
Google released part 2 of its 2-part core update, previously announced, to all regions and languages. Reports of big changes came quickly, and Google later called the rollout effectively complete.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: June 24 to June 30, 2021 with July 13 to July 19, 2021.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 2, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 13, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
June 2021 spam update, part 2
Google ran part 2 of its spam update, which, like part 1, covered web and image results worldwide. Danny Sullivan said it belonged to the same effort. Early forum reaction was light, with continued complaints about spam.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
June 2021 spam update, part 1
Google released a spam update covering both web pages and images worldwide, but not local results. It did not say what kind of spam it targeted, and early impact on tracked results looked small.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Page experience update on mobile
Rolled out June 15 to September 2, 2021: 79 days
Google began slowly adding page experience signals to ranking, and AMP stopped being a requirement for Top Stories. It finished the rollout later, including the Top Stories mobile carousel, and no large ranking shifts were seen.
Confirmed by: Google Search Central on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 16, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 3, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
During the rollout of June 2021 core update.
Exploitative and slander site changes, called Predator
Google said it improved its demotion signals against exploitative sites, such as ones that charge to remove content about people. When a person has a removal request with a predatory site, it automatically protects name searches from similar low quality sites.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: BrightLocal. People talking on: Local Search Forum.
During the rollout of June 2021 core update.
June 2021 core update
Rolled out June 2 to June 12, 2021: 10 days
Google released the first part of a 2-part core update, saying part 2 would follow in July because some parts were not finished. It said the update was unrelated to page experience, and early tracking showed little impact.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: May 26 to June 1, 2021 with June 13 to June 19, 2021.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 3, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 16, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
MUM announced
Google introduced MUM, an AI model meant to handle complex tasks that now take many searches. It understands and generates language, is trained across 75 languages, and works with text and images together.
Source: Google The Keyword blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 3, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 3, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Page experience pushed to June
Google moved the page experience update from May to a slow, phased rollout beginning in mid-June, with full effect only by the end of August. It also launched a Search Console report on page experience and did not expect big ranking shifts.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 20, 2021
Product reviews update
Rolled out April 8 to April 22, 2021: 14 days
Google started rewarding product reviews with in-depth research and original analysis over thin pages that just summarize many products. It first applied to English-language reviews and was separate from regular core updates.
Dates to compare in Search Console: April 1 to April 7, 2021 with April 23 to April 29, 2021.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 9, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 22, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
John Mueller tweeted that he was not aware of any search ranking launch. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Rank Flux, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, March 11, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 11, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat, BrightLocal, Advanced Web Ranking. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 23, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 26, 2021 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 1, 2021
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Passage ranking live in US English
Passage ranking, which scores separate passages of a long page against different queries without indexing them separately, went live for US English queries. Danny Sullivan said more English-speaking countries would follow, then other languages.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
202050 entries, 10 confirmed by Google
Reported ranking update (Christmas)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, comments on the post.
December 2020 core update
Rolled out December 3 to December 16, 2020: 13 days
Google released a broad core ranking update that quickly moved some sites by 30 percent or more. Volatility peaked the day after launch and again about a week later, then stayed calm for the rest of the rollout.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: November 26 to December 2, 2020 with December 17 to December 23, 2020.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 4, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 17, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Subtopics ranking launched
Google began using a machine-learning system that recognizes subtopics within a broad search, so results draw on a broader set of content. Danny Sullivan said it does not change how results look and that it went live weeks after being announced.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google gives May 2021 date for page experience
Google set May 2021 as the rollout month for page experience signals, which combine Core Web Vitals with mobile-friendliness, HTTPS and interstitial rules. Non-AMP pages would also qualify for mobile Top Stories, and Google planned to test a label for great pages.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, November 11, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Serpstat. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Passage ranking announced
Google said it can now judge the relevance of individual passages within a page, helping very specific searches. A spokesperson said pages are still indexed whole, so this is a ranking change, expected to affect about 7 percent of queries.
Sources: Google The Keyword blog · Search Engine Roundtable, October 19, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 12, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 14, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Mobile indexing and canonical bugs
Rolled out September 20 to October 14, 2020: 24 days
Google had 2 indexing bugs that dropped pages from the index: a canonicalization problem affecting about 0.02 percent of the index and a mobile-indexing problem affecting about 0.2 percent. Google restored URLs gradually, and said some would take days to return.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 5, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 15, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 16, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 17, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Rank Flux, Local RankFlux. People talking on: Local Search Forum.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Local Search Forum.
Massive result swings, a Google indexing bug
Rolled out August 10 to August 11, 2020: 1 day
Search results briefly showed large, odd shifts, with big sites replacing normal results for many queries and SEOs seeing sharp traffic changes. Google said it was a bug on its side and that it had been fixed.
Confirmed by: John Mueller on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, August 11, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 10, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Sistrix. People talking on: X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 22, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 23, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google announces page experience signals
Google previewed a ranking signal merging Core Web Vitals with its existing page experience signals, and said AMP would no longer be required for mobile Top Stories. Changes were not expected before the next year.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, May 29, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
May 2020 core update
Rolled out May 4 to May 18, 2020: 14 days
Google released a broad core ranking update. Forum posts and rank trackers showed large swings within the first few days, with finance and health queries among those cited.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: April 27 to May 3, 2020 with May 19 to May 25, 2020.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 5, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 19, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Local ranking swings later called a bug
Local rankings in Google Maps and Search swung widely for weeks, and SEOs suspected a local update. Google first said it makes updates constantly, then said examples sent in by the community helped it find and fix a bug.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 28, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 6, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Rank Flux, Local RankFlux, BrightLocal. People talking on: Local Search Forum.
February 2020 unconfirmed update
Rank trackers and SEO forums showed unusually large ranking swings for several days, with some sites dropping sharply and others gaining, and some losses later reversing. Google gave no details and replied only that it updates Search constantly.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 9, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 12, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 13, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics, Rank Flux, BrightLocal, Whitespark. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 3, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 11, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
January 2020 core update
Rolled out January 13 to January 16, 2020: 3 days
Google released a broad core ranking update that Danny Sullivan said rolled out globally in all languages. Early signs from SEOs and rank trackers pointed to bigger swings than the September 2019 core update.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: January 6 to January 12, 2020 with January 17 to January 23, 2020.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 14, 2020 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 16, 2020
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Reported ranking update (New Years)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
201949 entries, 11 confirmed by Google
Reported ranking update (Christmas)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
BERT reaches more than 70 languages
Google extended BERT, which helps it understand queries, from US English to over 70 languages. It arrived sooner than Google's Danny Sullivan and John Mueller had predicted, and Sullivan said it affects about 1 in 10 queries, varying by language.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 27, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 27, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 18, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 19, 2019
November 2019 update, Google confirmed several changes
SEOs reported ranking swings of 30 to 50 percent for some sites after a Friday change, though tracking tools showed little movement. Google said it makes several updates in a typical week and shares details only when site owners can act on them.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 13, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 11, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Rank Flux, Local RankFlux, BrightLocal. People talking on: X, Local Search Forum.
November 2019 local update, called Bedlam
Google began using neural matching in local search, so results can link a search to a business by meaning rather than only the literal words in its name or description. The launch was global, and businesses were told no changes were needed.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 3, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 15, 2019
BERT in Search, 1 in 10 English searches
Google began using BERT, a language model that reads the words on both sides of each term, to better understand search queries, starting with US English and affecting about 1 in 10 queries. It also changed featured snippets in other languages.
Sources: Google The Keyword blog · Search Engine Roundtable, October 25, 2019
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
September 2019 core update
Google pre-announced a broad core ranking update and began rolling it out the same day. Danny Sullivan said these usually need a few days to finish, and early reports from SEOs and tracking tools showed limited movement.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 24, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 25, 2019
Review rich results limited (Starmageddon)
Google narrowed which schema types can trigger star-rating review snippets, and stopped showing them for local businesses and organizations that post reviews about themselves. It also aimed to address invalid or misleading markup.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, September 19, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, Rank Flux, Local RankFlux, BrightLocal. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 13, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 13, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
July 2019 reported update, nicknamed Maverick
Rank trackers and SEO forums showed large ranking swings in mid-July that Google did not confirm. WebmasterWorld's Brett Tabke named it Update Maverick, and some sites hit by the June core update reported further drops.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 19, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 23, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 17, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Site diversity change, 2 listings from a domain
Google began limiting most search results to at most 2 listings per site in the top positions, giving searchers more variety. Subdomains generally count as the same site, and Google may still show more when it judges that useful.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
June 2019 core update, first announced in advance
Rolled out June 3 to June 8, 2019: 5 days
Google pre-announced a broad core ranking update, saying it preferred to tell people ahead of time instead of confirming afterward. Danny Sullivan said it was a usual core update, not a special or unusually big change.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: May 27 to June 2, 2019 with June 9 to June 15, 2019.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 2, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 4, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 11, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Mobile-first indexing default for new domains
Google said mobile-first indexing, crawling with its smartphone crawler, would be the default for new websites it had never seen before, since new sites were generally ready. Older sites would move after Search Console notified them they were ready.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
De-indexing bug
Rolled out April 5 to April 11, 2019: 6 days
A bug in Google's index dropped pages out of Search for several days, costing affected pages rankings and traffic. Google said it was a bug rather than an update, and that site owners needed to do nothing while it fixed the problem.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, April 9, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 11, 2019 · Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
March 2019 core update
Google confirmed a broad change to its core ranking systems, something it does several times per year. After the SEO community called it Florida 2, Google gave it the official name March 2019 Core Update.
Confirmed by: Google SearchLiaison and Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, March 15, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 13, 2019 · Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 28, 2019 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 4, 2019
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
201838 entries, 7 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, Local Search Forum.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 13, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 17, 2018
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Reported ranking update (Thanksgiving)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Accuranker, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Reported ranking update (Creepy)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Reported ranking update (Halloween)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Sistrix, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Small update on Google's birthday
Danny Sullivan said Google made a smaller update, and not a major update like the August update. Search Engine Roundtable reads smaller as affecting fewer sites than earlier updates, though sites that were hit felt it was big.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 30, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 28, 2018
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
John Mueller said in a hangout that he knew of no particular update on August 22. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: X, Local Search Forum, WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
During the rollout of August 2018 broad core update, nicknamed Medic.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, August 6, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 6, 2018
August 2018 broad core update, nicknamed Medic
Rolled out August 1 to August 8, 2018: 7 days
Google confirmed a broad core algorithm update. Webmasters reported big traffic drops, and Search Engine Roundtable's survey of more than 300 affected sites found about 42 percent were in health and medical areas.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Dates to compare in Search Console: July 25 to July 31, 2018 with August 9 to August 15, 2018.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, August 1, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 8, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 9, 2018
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post.
Speed Update rolls out for mobile
Google began rolling out the Speed Update, which uses page speed as a ranking factor in mobile search. Clarifications noted it affects only the slowest mobile sites, and fast sites that get faster see no boost.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 9, 2018 · Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
April 2018 broad core update
Google said it had pushed out a broad core update of the kind it routinely issues through the year, and pointed back to its March advice that pages doing worse have no fix other than building great content.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan on the Google SearchLiaison Twitter account
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, April 23, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 25, 2018
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Mobile-first indexing rolls out more widely
Google said it had started moving sites that follow its best practices to mobile-first indexing, after about 18 months of testing. It said this changes how content is gathered, not how it is ranked, and it still keeps a single index.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, March 27, 2018
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
March 2018 broad core update
Google confirmed a broad core algorithm update, saying it does these several times a year. It said pages that now do worse have nothing wrong with them and no fix, because the changes help pages that had been under-rewarded before.
Confirmed by: Danny Sullivan and Google SearchLiaison on Twitter, and Nathan Johns at SMX
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, March 13, 2018 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 20, 2018
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google announces speed as a mobile ranking factor for July (Speed Update)
Google announced that page speed would become a factor in mobile search rankings, called the Speed Update, affecting only the slowest pages and a small percentage of queries. A slow page can still rank well if its content is relevant.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, January 18, 2018
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
201734 entries, 7 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
December 2017 changes, nicknamed Maccabees
Forum threads and trackers showed big ranking swings, with many sites losing traffic. Google said it released several minor improvements in that period and saw no major or single change. Search Engine Roundtable's sample leaned toward doorway-style and ad-heavy low-quality sites.
Confirmed by: Google statement to Search Engine Land, and Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 15, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 21, 2017
Japanese health search quality update
Google posted on its Japanese blog about improving results for medical and health searches in Japanese.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, cognitiveSEO, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Mobile-first indexing starts for some sites
John Mueller somewhat confirmed that Google had begun indexing a very small number of sites from their mobile version, though he said it was still experimental. Gary Illyes later said it was live for a few sites and would never finish rolling out.
Confirmed by: John Mueller in a webmaster hangout and Gary Illyes at SMX East
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 18, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 26, 2017
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, Accuranker, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Local update that rolled back part of Possum
Local SEO Joy Hawkins reported that the earlier Possum local pack update was rolled back or toned down, and her clients who had been filtered were ranking well again. She said it does not help everyone who was filtered.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: Local Search Forum.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
June 25 update, Google called it random chatter
Trackers and webmaster comments showed a ranking shake-up across many kinds of sites. John Mueller said Google makes updates all the time, then said nothing was confirmed and it was random chatter. Search Engine Roundtable later found no common pattern among more than 70 hit sites.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 27, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 28, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 5, 2017
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Project Owl, better answers on offensive and false results
Google said a small share of queries, around 0.25 percent, had been returning offensive or plainly misleading material, and it made ranking changes to surface more authoritative results. It also added feedback forms for autocomplete and featured snippets.
Sources: Google The Keyword blog · Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 26, 2017
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Semrush, MozCast, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X, Google Search Central forums.
Fred, sites thin on value and heavy on ads
Many content sites lost traffic overnight, and Gary Illyes said every update would be called Fred unless stated otherwise. He later said hit sites were doing things against the webmaster guidelines. Search Engine Roundtable found most reviewed sites were ad-heavy, low-value content sites.
Confirmed by: Gary Illyes on Twitter and at SMX West
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, March 9, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 13, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 24, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 30, 2017
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
February 7 update, Google gave no comment
Trackers and forum threads showed ranking changes, with some sites gaining and others losing traffic, and Glenn Gabe posted charts of surges. Google had no comment, and John Mueller only said Google is always making changes.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 8, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 13, 2017 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 14, 2017
Japanese search quality update
Google improved how it judges site quality in Japanese search, lowering the ranking of low-quality sites that aim to appear above results rather than give useful information. Google's Kazushi Nagayama said the launch was Japan-only.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, February 3, 2017
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (MLK)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Intrusive interstitial demotion rolls out
Google began demoting mobile pages that show intrusive interstitials after a click from mobile search. Google said this is among hundreds of signals, so a page with great content may still rank highly.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 11, 2017 · Google Search Central blog
201625 entries, 7 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
November 10 update, some saw a reversal November 18
MozCast and a few other trackers picked up a change, and webmasters posted about ranking drops, while other tools showed nothing. John Mueller said Google had no announcement about that day. Some SEOs later said it had been rolled back.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 14, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 16, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 21, 2016
Mobile-first indexing announced
Google said it had begun experiments to make its index mobile-first, so its algorithms would eventually rely mainly on a site's mobile pages for ranking, structured data and snippets. It advised sites with different mobile and desktop content to prepare.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Penguin 4.0, real time and part of core
Rolled out September 23 to October 13, 2016: 20 days
Penguin became part of Google's core algorithm and now runs in real time, so its data refreshes soon after pages are recrawled and reindexed. It also became more granular, adjusting rankings from spam signals rather than changing a whole site's ranking.
Dates to compare in Search Console: September 16 to September 22, 2016 with October 14 to October 20, 2016.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, September 23, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 13, 2016
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
John Mueller said on Twitter that the chatter reflected nothing specific, and that it was not a Penguin update. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 13, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 15, 2016
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Accuranker, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Local update nicknamed Possum
Local SEOs reported big changes in the local pack, with mostly different results, and some called it the largest local shift in years. Search Engine Roundtable thought it was either a change to core local ranking or Google clearing spam out of the local index.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, September 2, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, September 8, 2017
Google announces intrusive interstitial demotion for January 2017
Google announced 2 changes to mobile results: it would drop the mobile-friendly label because 85 percent of pages now meet the criteria, and it would rank lower pages that show intrusive interstitials hiding content.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 24, 2016
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Stronger mobile-friendly signal fully live
John Mueller said the stronger mobile-friendly ranking signal announced in March was fully rolled out. Search Engine Roundtable noted it affects only mobile results, so tools that mainly track desktop results would not show it.
Confirmed by: John Mueller on Twitter
Google did not confirm it.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Accuranker, RankRanger, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google announces a stronger mobile-friendly signal for May
Google said it would increase the effect of the mobile-friendliness ranking signal on mobile search results. Sites already mobile-friendly would not be affected, and the intent of the search remains a strong signal.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, March 17, 2016
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Panda becomes part of the core algorithm
Google said Panda had become a core ranking signal, applied to sites overall and measuring site quality. Search Engine Roundtable concluded Panda would no longer be released as separate updates.
Confirmed by: Google statement via Jennifer Slegg, and Gary Illyes on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 12, 2016 · Google documentation
January 2016 core update, not Penguin
Google said the big ranking changes seen that week were part of a core algorithm update and not Penguin. Zineb Ait called it a frequent quality update with no name, and John Mueller confirmed it was not Penguin.
Confirmed by: Gary Illyes, Zineb Ait and John Mueller on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 12, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 17, 2016
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 6, 2016 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 8, 2016
201531 entries, 10 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
HTTPS pages indexed by default
Google said it was changing how it indexes so it finds more HTTPS pages, and would crawl HTTPS versions of HTTP pages even when nothing links to them. When both versions match, it prefers the HTTPS URL if a list of conditions is met.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: RankRanger, Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, RankRanger. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, X.
App install interstitials stop being mobile-friendly
Google changed the mobile-friendly algorithm so a page whose app install interstitial hides much of its content after a click from search no longer counts as mobile-friendly. It recommended app install banners instead.
Confirmed by: Google on Google+
RankBrain revealed
Google confirmed RankBrain, an artificial intelligence method that guesses what ambiguous queries refer to. It was already live worldwide, and Greg Corrado ranked it third among Google's hundreds of signals.
Confirmed by: Greg Corrado and Gary Illyes of Google, via Bloomberg
Source: Search Engine Roundtable, October 27, 2015
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Reported ranking update (Halloween)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Accuranker, RankRanger, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Hacked spam algorithm
Google said it had begun rolling out algorithm changes against hacked spam, where spammers inject malicious pages into legitimate sites. The changes would eventually affect roughly 5 percent of queries, and some searches might temporarily show fewer results.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, October 9, 2015
Reported ranking update (Tedster)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it.
Panda 4.2, rolls out over months
Google released Panda 4.2, its first Panda refresh in about 10 months, as a very slow rollout, and almost nobody noticed at first. Gary Illyes said it affected 2 to 3 percent of queries.
Confirmed by: Gary Illyes on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 23, 2015 · Search Engine Roundtable, July 24, 2015 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 2, 2015
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Searchmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Core algorithm change, Google said not Panda or Penguin
Tracking tools spiked, and a Google spokesperson called it a normal improvement to its search algorithms, not Panda. John Mueller said it was not Panda or Penguin, and Gary Illyes said it was not an HTTPS boost.
Confirmed by: Google spokesperson, John Mueller and Gary Illyes, to Search Engine Roundtable
Reported ranking update (Cricket)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported local results update
Local SEOs reported major ranking shifts in Google Maps and local packs, possibly tied to Google's fix for a Maps prank. Search Engine Roundtable suspected a location detection problem and planned to ask Google, which had not commented.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Advanced Web Ranking, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 1, 2015 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 1, 2015
Early May 2015 core change, called Phantom 2 or Quality
Site owners saw a more noticeable shift in traffic than usual. Google first said there was no update, then confirmed a normal core search quality update, not a webspam update, and John Mueller called it an ordinary change with nothing specific to fix.
Confirmed by: Google statement to Search Engine Land and John Mueller in a Google+ hangout
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 20, 2015 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 5, 2015
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Mobile-friendly ranking update (Mobilegeddon)
Rolled out April 21 to May 1, 2015: 10 days
Google began boosting mobile-friendly pages in mobile search results, in all languages and at the page level, not the whole site. Gary Illyes later said the algorithm was live but not every page had been reindexed with new scores.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, May 1, 2015
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Advanced Web Ranking, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google announces a doorway pages ranking change
Google said it would soon launch a ranking adjustment against doorway pages created to funnel searchers to the same destination, and it added examples to its guidelines. Sites running large doorway campaigns could see broad effects.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, March 17, 2015 · Search Engine Roundtable, April 24, 2015
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World, Google Search Central forums.
Google gives April 21 date for mobile-friendly ranking (Mobilegeddon)
Google set April 21 as the day mobile-friendliness would weigh more in rankings for mobile searches in all languages, with a large impact expected. It also began using indexed app content as a ranking factor for signed-in users.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, February 27, 2015
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Advanced Web Ranking, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
February 2015 update, Google said not Panda or Penguin
Many site owners reported a major ranking change. Google said it makes tweaks as usual and had no specific update to announce, and told Search Engine Roundtable it was not Panda or Penguin. Search Metrics saw movement on brand e-commerce terms, including misspellings.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 6, 2015 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 9, 2015
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
201426 entries, 10 confirmed by Google
Mobile-friendly label in results
Google began tagging mobile search results with a mobile-friendly label for pages that pass 4 checks, such as readable text without zooming and links spaced for tapping. It was also testing the criteria as a ranking signal.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
During the rollout of Penguin 3.0.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 10, 2014 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 11, 2014
Pirate DMCA algorithm updated
Google announced a refined version of its DMCA demotion signal, which lowers the rankings of sites that draw many valid takedown notices. Google expected visible ranking changes for some notorious sites.
Confirmed by: Google, quoted by Search Engine Roundtable
Penguin 3.0
Rolled out October 17 to December 1, 2014: 45 days
Penguin 3.0 was the first Penguin update in over a year, after Penguin 2.1. Google said it was only a refresh with worldwide impact on less than 1 percent of English queries. Forums showed both big losses and gains.
Confirmed by: Pierre Far and John Mueller at Google, to Search Engine Roundtable
Dates to compare in Search Console: October 10 to October 16, 2014 with December 2 to December 8, 2014.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 18, 2014 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 4, 2014 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 1, 2014
Panda 4.1
Pierre Far said Google was rolling out an improved Panda with extra signals to spot low-quality content more precisely, which he said lets more small and medium-sized sites rank higher. Around 3 to 5 percent of queries were affected, depending on locale.
Confirmed by: Pierre Far on Google+
Reported Panda refresh around September 5
People posted about large traffic losses in Google's help forums while automated trackers showed little. Search Engine Roundtable judged it a large Panda refresh after a Googler gave a standard Panda reply and an SEO reported client recoveries.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
HTTPS becomes a ranking signal
Google began using HTTPS as a ranking signal, calling it very lightweight at first, touching under 1 percent of queries worldwide and weighing less than quality content. It said it might strengthen the signal over time.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 7, 2014
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Pigeon local update
Google changed local search results in what Search Engine Roundtable called the largest local update in ages. Google told Search Engine Roundtable about it but gave no metrics. Reactions were mixed, and complaints stayed lower than after Panda or Penguin updates.
Confirmed by: Google, to Search Engine Roundtable
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, July 28, 2014 · Search Engine Roundtable, August 1, 2014
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, Searchmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 23, 2014 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 26, 2014
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: X.
Spammy queries algorithm 3.0 (Payday Loan)
Matt Cutts said the third version of the Payday Loan spam algorithm was launching. He said 2.0 went after spammy sites while 3.0 looks more at spammy queries, such as payday loans, casinos and viagra. Search Engine Roundtable saw no complaints yet.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts at SMX Advanced
Panda 4.0
Google released Panda 4.0, a new version of the algorithm and not a routine refresh. Matt Cutts said about 7.5 percent of English queries were affected enough for users to notice, and called it a new architecture with a softer side.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 21, 2014 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 26, 2014
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Black Hat World.
Spammy queries algorithm 2.0 (Payday Loan)
Google rolled out version 2.0 of its Payday Loan spam algorithm, aimed at queries spammers target heavily, like payday loans and viagra. Matt Cutts said it noticeably affected about 0.2 percent of English queries, versus 0.3 percent for the first version.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Reported May 2014 changes, Google said no update
Trackers and forums showed signs of a ranking change, but Google told the publication nothing was going on and it was not working on anything related. Sites that dropped could not be tied to a confirmed update.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Searchmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, X.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, Searchmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Page layout algorithm, third version
Matt Cutts said Google had refreshed its page layout algorithm, the third update since it launched. Search Engine Roundtable found most site owners saw very little effect, though some posted in forums about being hit.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Algoroo. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
201333 entries, 10 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Thanksgiving)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, comments on the post, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Penguin 2.1
Matt Cutts announced Penguin 2.1, a new Penguin launch that noticeably affected about 1 percent of searches. Many webmasters reported big swings, with some sites wrecked and others recovering from earlier Penguin updates.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 4, 2013 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 7, 2013
Mugshot sites algorithm
Google lowered the rankings of mugshot sites that had ranked well for the names of people who were arrested, even if they were never convicted. These sites charge removal fees, and Mugshots.com objected to the change.
Hummingbird announced, in use since August 2013
Google announced it had rewritten its search algorithm and code-named the new version Hummingbird, saying it had been in use for about a month. Panda, Penguin and other systems stayed in place as parts of the new engine.
Sources: Google documentation · Search Engine Roundtable, September 30, 2013
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
In-depth articles in results
Google added a new set of search results for in-depth articles on broad topics, ranked by algorithm using signals of quality and depth. It started in English on google.com, and Google listed markup tips for publishers.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Softer Panda algorithm
A Panda update described as more finely targeted went out, and forum posters saw what looked like recoveries, in line with Google's earlier aim to soften Panda. Google had said it would stop confirming Panda updates but confirmed it.
Confirmed by: Google, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, Algoroo, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Multi-week update announced by Matt Cutts
Matt Cutts said a multi-week rollout of an update had begun. Search Engine Roundtable guessed it targeted spam rather than the softer Panda change, though Google did not say what was changing.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Spammy queries algorithm, called Payday Loan
Matt Cutts announced a ranking update for spammy queries, aimed at industries where spam tactics run heavier. It touched about 0.3 percent of U.S. queries and up to around 4 percent of Turkish queries.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Ranking change for sites with broken smartphone pages
Google said it would roll out ranking changes against sites set up badly for smartphone users. It named 2 common mistakes: faulty redirects that send phone visitors to an irrelevant page, and errors shown only to phone visitors.
Source: Google Search Central blog
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X.
Penguin 2.0
Penguin 2.0 was a new generation of the webspam algorithm, an algorithm change and not just a data refresh, coming over 6 months after the last Penguin refresh. About 2.3 percent of English-US queries were noticeably affected, with other languages varying.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on his blog
Reported May 2013 update
Forum threads and tracking tools showed a jump in ranking swings, with many webmasters reporting big traffic drops. Nobody could tie it to a known Google system, and Google had nothing to announce yet.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Easter)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Panda update number 25, moves to rolling updates
Matt Cutts said Panda would stop being a manually pushed refresh and roll out gradually as the index is rebuilt, so changes would be less noticeable. Forums reported movement for a Panda refresh at the same time.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts at SMX West
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, March 15, 2013 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 14, 2013
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Panda update number 24
Google pushed a data refresh of Panda, its content quality system, the 24th revision since launch. It affected 1.2 percent of English queries, compared with about 1.3 percent for the holiday refresh before it.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Reported January 17 update, Google denied it
Webmasters saw dramatic ranking changes in forums and on Twitter, and some suspected Panda or the exact match domain update. Google denied an update. An SEO later argued searches were being steered toward well-known brands.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 17, 2013 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 24, 2013
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 15, 2013 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 25, 2013
201245 entries, 33 confirmed by Google
Panda update number 23
Google confirmed on Twitter a Panda data refresh noticeably affecting about 1.3 percent of English queries. It came before the holidays, though a year earlier Google had promised no Panda update then, and a week earlier it had denied any update.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Reported December 13 update, Google said no
Webmasters and tracking tools such as MozCast, SERPmetrics and SERPS.com showed strong signs of a ranking change. Google told Search Engine Roundtable it was not Panda, then said it was not aware of any update.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 14, 2012 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 18, 2012
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Panda update number 22
Google told Search Engine Roundtable by email that a Panda refresh had gone out, and later said it affected 0.8 percent of English queries. Google did not tweet about it. Search Engine Roundtable counted it as the 22nd Panda update.
Confirmed by: Google spokesperson to Search Engine Roundtable
Panda update number 21
Google confirmed on Twitter a Panda data refresh noticeably affecting about 1.1 percent of English queries. Search Engine Roundtable counted it as the 21st Panda update and said Danny Sullivan also confirmed it at Search Engine Land.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Page layout algorithm updated
Matt Cutts announced on Twitter an update to the page layout algorithm launched in January, noticeably affecting about 0.7 percent of English queries. Search Engine Roundtable called it the first officially confirmed update to that algorithm.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Third Penguin update
A Penguin data refresh that Matt Cutts announced on Twitter, noticeably affecting 0.3 percent of English queries and 0.4 percent of non-English queries. Search Engine Roundtable spotted at least 1 claimed recovery.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Search quality highlights: 65 changes for August and September
Google posted 65 changes covering the 2 months, including a global English expansion of the Knowledge Graph, new ways of generating autocomplete predictions, a sitelinks data refresh and updated handling of stale content.
Source: Google Inside Search blog
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Exact match domain update (EMD)
An algorithm change that lowers the rankings of low-quality exact-match domains, announced by Matt Cutts on Twitter. He said it noticeably affected 0.6 percent of English-US queries and was unrelated to Panda and Penguin.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Panda update number 20
A change to the Panda algorithm itself rather than a data refresh, which Matt Cutts said overlapped the exact match domain update. It noticeably affected about 2.4 percent of English queries, and about 0.5 percent in French and Spanish.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts by email to Search Engine Roundtable
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 3, 2012 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 4, 2012
Panda 3.9.2 refresh
Google announced on Twitter a Panda refresh that noticeably affected fewer than 0.7 percent of queries and warned of some flux for a few days. The Panda movement suspected the week before turned out to be a diversity change.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Domain diversity update
Matt Cutts said Google rolled out a small change that improves the diversity of results across different domains. Webmasters had suspected a large Panda update, and some Panda-hit sites reported traffic bumps.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Panda 3.9.1 refresh
Google confirmed on Twitter, after Search Engine Roundtable emailed to ask, a minor Panda data refresh that noticeably affected about 1 percent of queries. Search Engine Roundtable also saw a screenshot of a site that recovered.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: MozCast, SERPmetrics. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Search quality highlights: 86 changes for June and July
Google posted a combined list of 86 changes covering both months, including new data for the Panda algorithm, a Panda launch in Japan and Korea, and ranking, freshness and answers changes. It also dropped separate descriptive names and codenames.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 13, 2012
DMCA signal, later called Pirate
Google said it would start counting valid copyright removal notices per site as a ranking signal, so sites with many notices may rank lower. It said it would not remove pages without a valid notice from the rights owner.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 13, 2012
Panda 3.9 refresh
Google announced on Twitter a Panda data refresh rolling out that night, changing about 1 percent of search results enough to notice. Forums showed few complaints, and Google had denied an earlier rumored refresh.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Panda 3.8 refresh
Google confirmed on Twitter a Panda data refresh affecting about 1 percent of queries worldwide. Google told Search Engine Roundtable it began the day before, not over the weekend, and was a data refresh only.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Reported June 16 update, Google said no
Some WebmasterWorld members and Twitter users reported big rank movement, and SERPmetrics tweeted about big flux. Search Engine Roundtable saw only small reports and doubted it was a Panda or Penguin refresh.
Panda 3.7 refresh
Google confirmed on Twitter that a Panda data refresh had begun rolling out. It noticeably affected less than 1 percent of queries in the U.S. and about 1 percent worldwide.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Search quality highlights: 39 changes for May
Google posted 39 search changes for the month, including deeper detection of hacked pages, autocomplete predictions shown as related searches, more predictions for Japanese users and updated word segmenters for Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Source: Google Inside Search blog
Penguin 1.1 data refresh
A Penguin data refresh that Matt Cutts announced on Twitter, the first since the original Penguin. Google later said it also included a couple of minor tweaks to improve signals along with the data refresh.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 26, 2012 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 8, 2012
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Knowledge Graph launches
Google launched the Knowledge Graph, a model of real-world entities and how they relate, so searches for things, people and places return information about the entity itself. It held over 500 million objects and 3.5 billion facts at launch.
Source: Google Inside Search blog
Search quality highlights: 52 changes for April
Google posted 52 or more search launches for the month, including an algorithm improvement for finding high-quality sites, spelling fixes for longer queries, page-level country identification and a domain diversity change.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, May 7, 2012
Panda 3.6 refresh
A very minor Panda refresh that Google confirmed to Search Engine Roundtable after it went out. Google called it part of the 500-plus ranking changes it makes each year, arriving only 8 days after Panda 3.5.
Confirmed by: Google statement to Search Engine Roundtable
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Penguin 1.0, webspam algorithm
Google announced a webspam algorithm change that lowers rankings for sites it believes break its quality guidelines, aimed at techniques like keyword stuffing and link schemes. Google later told Search Engine Land its internal name was Penguin.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 27, 2012 · Google documentation
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Panda 3.5 refresh
A small Panda data refresh that Matt Cutts confirmed in a tweet a week later, after Search Engine Roundtable had missed it. Search Engine Roundtable labeled it version 3.5 and noted it overlapped the parked domain bug and the webspam rollout.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Parked domain bug mistaken for an update
Many sites saw sharp ranking drops, which Matt Cutts said was a bug and not an over-optimization penalty. Google's parked domain classifier read empty files and wrongly marked some sites as parked. He apologized and said it was fixed.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Google+
Reported ranking update (Easter)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Search quality highlights: 50 changes for March
Google posted 50 search quality changes for the month, including autocomplete with math symbols, indexing of more symbols, a sitelinks data refresh and a site quality detection improvement. It also released uncut video of a search quality meeting.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 4, 2012
Panda 3.4 rollout
Google announced a Panda refresh on Twitter that noticeably affected about 1.6 percent of queries. Search Engine Roundtable read the wording as a re-run of the algorithm on the index, without new signals.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter (@google)
Search quality highlights: 40 changes for February, Venice local change
Google published a record list of 40 monthly search quality changes, covering related searches, sitelinks, autocomplete, thumbnails, SafeSearch and indexing, with most already live when it posted.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, February 28, 2012
Panda 3.3 refresh
A Panda data refresh with no change to the algorithm itself, which Google mentioned in its monthly list of search changes. Google said the refresh made the Panda system more accurate and more responsive to recent web changes.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 28, 2012 · Google Inside Search blog
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Search quality highlights: 17 changes for January
Google posted 17 search quality changes for the month, covering fresher results, faster autocomplete, spelling corrections and a minor refresh of Panda data. It also pointed to the launch of Search plus Your World.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, February 7, 2012
Page layout algorithm, too many ads above the fold
Google launched a change that looks at page layout and how much content shows when someone clicks a result, lowering sites whose top of page is crowded with ads. It noticeably affected less than 1 percent of searches globally.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, January 20, 2012
Panda 3.2 refresh
Sites hit by Panda reported traffic coming back in mid-January. Search Engine Roundtable later headlined it as a confirmed Panda 3.2 refresh.
Confirmed by: Search Engine Roundtable headline
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, January 25, 2012 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 28, 2012
Search plus Your World
Google added 3 features that bring personal content and people into search: Personal Results like Google+ photos and posts, Profiles in Search, and People and Pages for finding profiles and Google+ pages on a topic.
Source: The Official Google Blog
Search quality highlights: 30 changes for December
Google published its December list covering 30 search improvements, with 9 already covered in earlier posts, and added internal codenames for some. Items included image search landing page signals, more relevant sitelinks and better soft 404 detection.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, January 6, 2012
201119 entries, 12 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
First monthly search quality highlights
Google began a monthly series listing subtler ranking and feature changes, including a new parked domain classifier, more long-tail indexing, related query refinements and more autocomplete predictions.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, December 2, 2011
Panda 3.1 refresh
Google announced on Twitter a minor Panda data refresh affecting less than 1 percent of searches. Search Engine Roundtable labeled it 3.1, noting that an earlier Panda update Google called minor had proved larger.
Confirmed by: Google on Twitter
Google lists 10 recent algorithm changes
Google started a series of posts listing recent search changes, beginning with 10 items such as translated results for languages with little web content, snippets drawing more from page content, better titles and Russian autocomplete limits.
Source: Google Inside Search blog
Freshness update, about 35 percent of searches
Google changed its ranking algorithm to better judge when a search needs fresh results, affecting roughly 35 percent of searches. It covers trending news, regularly recurring events and information that changes often.
Sources: Google Inside Search blog · Search Engine Roundtable, November 4, 2011
Minor Panda update 2.5.3
SEOs on WebmasterWorld suggested another minor Panda update, with a webmaster seeing a sharp rise in Google traffic after an earlier Panda drop. Other webmasters agreed, but Google said nothing.
Minor Panda update 2.5.2
A minor update to Panda 2.5 that Matt Cutts confirmed by tweet. Forum posts were mixed, with sites reporting further drops and a small recovery.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on Twitter
Panda 2.5 refresh
Google confirmed a Panda update after DaniWeb reported losing about 50 percent of its traffic, which later returned. Matt Cutts then tweeted a weather report on Panda, and Search Engine Roundtable expected more tweaks.
Confirmed by: Google confirmation to Search Engine Roundtable, and Matt Cutts on Twitter
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 3, 2011 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 5, 2011
Panda 2.4 reaches most languages
Google rolled out its high-quality sites algorithm, also called Panda, to every language but Chinese, Japanese and Korean. For most languages it noticeably affected 6 to 9 percent of queries, lower than the nearly 12 percent of English queries at first.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 12, 2011
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Panda 2.3 refresh
A manually pushed Panda update that Google said adds new signals to tell higher and lower quality sites apart, so some sites rank higher afterward. Search Engine Roundtable noted it was pushed manually, not as a rolling release.
Confirmed by: Google statement to Search Engine Land
Panda 2.2 refresh
Matt Cutts said at SMX that Panda 2.2 had been approved but not yet released, and webmasters later reported signs it was rolling out, including some recoveries. Google had not confirmed the rollout at the time.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts at SMX, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, June 10, 2011 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 16, 2011
Panda 2.1 refresh
Webmasters reported another shake-up that some called Panda 3.0 or 2.1, with results moving around and Google referrals falling for some sites. Google did not confirm it. Matt Cutts tweeted that Panda data is refreshed only when the algorithms are re-run.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 9, 2011 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 10, 2011
Panda 2.0 goes global in English
Google extended its high-quality sites algorithm to all English-language users worldwide and added signals from sites that users block. It also caught more low-quality sites than the first version did, affecting about 2 percent of U.S. queries.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, April 12, 2011
Google did not confirm it.
Google did not confirm it. Trackers shown in the report: Sistrix. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Panda 1.0, first called Farmer
Google launched a change that lowers rankings for low-quality sites, such as those copying content, and rewards sites with original content. It noticeably affected 11.8 percent of queries and started in the U.S. only.
Sources: The Official Google Blog · Search Engine Roundtable, February 25, 2011 · Search Engine Roundtable, March 4, 2011 · Google documentation
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, X, Google Search Central forums.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 7, 2011 · Search Engine Roundtable, February 9, 2011
Scraper algorithm goes live
Google launched a change that keeps low quality scraper sites out of its results. Search Engine Roundtable first mistook it for the content farm change, until Matt Cutts told Danny Sullivan it only targeted scraper sites.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on his blog, and to Danny Sullivan
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, February 1, 2011 · Search Engine Roundtable, January 28, 2011
201010 entries, 4 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Rankings lowered for merchants with poor service
After a New York Times story about a merchant gaining links through bad service, Google said it launched an algorithm that detects that merchant and hundreds of others with very poor user experiences and ranks them lower.
Sources: The Official Google Blog · Search Engine Roundtable, December 2, 2010
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: Google Search Central forums, WebmasterWorld.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 27, 2010 · Search Engine Roundtable, October 29, 2010
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Caffeine indexing system finished
Google announced it had finished Caffeine, a new web indexing system that updates the search index continuously instead of refreshing the main layer every couple of weeks. Google said it gives results 50 percent fresher than the previous index.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · The Official Google Blog
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
May Day update on long-tail searches
Rolled out April 28 to May 3, 2010: 5 days
A rankings algorithm change that favors higher quality sites on long tail queries and was not a change to indexing or crawling. Matt Cutts confirmed it at Google I/O and by email, and said it would not be rolled back.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts at Google I/O and by email to Search Engine Land
Dates to compare in Search Console: April 21 to April 27, 2010 with May 4 to May 10, 2010.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 28, 2010 · Search Engine Roundtable, May 30, 2010 · Google Search Central blog
Site speed becomes a web search ranking signal
Google added site speed to its web search ranking signals, judging how quickly a site responds relative to others. It affected fewer than 1 percent of queries, applied to English searches on Google.com, and carried less weight than relevance.
Source: Google Search Central blog
200911 entries, 2 confirmed by Google
Real-time results in Search
Google added a Latest results feature that shows live posts from Twitter, FriendFeed and similar sites alongside fresh news and blog headlines, ranked when relevant, with versions for iPhone and Android devices.
Source: The Official Google Blog
Reported ranking update (Thanksgiving)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld, Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Caffeine preview opens for testing
Google opened a public sandbox preview of a new search infrastructure known as Caffeine, and asked developers and power searchers to compare it with live results and report differences. Most users were not expected to notice a change.
Sources: Google Search Central blog · Search Engine Roundtable, August 11, 2009
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: Google Search Central forums.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
200812 entries, 1 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Weekend ranking change Matt Cutts called a bug
Webmasters saw low quality sites enter the results and thought Google had gone backwards. Matt Cutts said it was a bug, not a test, because some data entered the index without all quality signals, and results were returning to normal.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on WebmasterWorld
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Less weight on anchor text reported
Patrick Altoft observed that Google appeared to give anchor text less weight compared with on-site optimization. His view came from observation only, and forum members guessed it might relate to many backlinks from a single domain.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported update nicknamed Dewey
A shift in results that WebmasterWorld members called Update Dewey. Senior members reported big changes on Google UK, including paid link buyers taking top spots and a site ranking 3rd elsewhere but 256th on Google UK.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
200712 entries, 1 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking cuts after a visible PageRank change
Webmasters reported zero external links in Google Webmaster Tools, PageRank drops of 1 or 2 points, and falling rankings and traffic for some sites. It was unclear whether this was a reporting error or a real update.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported update nicknamed Buffy
WebmasterWorld declared a ranking update named Buffy, with members reporting big changes in single-word queries and shifts elsewhere. The name referred to Vanessa Fox leaving Google.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Universal Search blends results
Google began mixing image, map, book, video and news content into regular web results on google.com, built on a new architecture. It also added navigation links above results to drill into specific types of information.
Source: The Official Google Blog
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Presidents Day)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported ranking update (Valentines)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
200610 entries, 0 confirmed by Google
Reported ranking update (Christmas)
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported pre-holiday update, Matt Cutts said no
Webmasters suspected an update before the holidays. Matt Cutts said he knew of nothing big going out and, after asking around, found nothing new, suggesting the movement was normal ranking flux.
Google data refresh
WebmasterWorld members reported both large and small reshuffles of page positions for certain queries, which looked like a data refresh. Search Engine Roundtable did not think it was large, and Google had not confirmed it.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Reported update nicknamed Pluto, played down by a Google employee
A backlink update that WebmasterWorld members named Pluto. GoogleGuy agreed it was nothing notable and said the results were not really changing, so it did not count as a true update.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
20057 entries, 4 confirmed by Google
Jagger update
Rolled out October 26 to November 10, 2005: 15 days
A 3-part update, Jagger1, Jagger2 and Jagger3, which Google asked people to treat as a single update for feedback. Matt Cutts explained how to send feedback on spam and indexing problems.
Confirmed by: Matt Cutts on his blog and WebmasterWorld
Dates to compare in Search Console: October 19 to October 25, 2005 with November 11 to November 17, 2005.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, October 26, 2005 · Search Engine Roundtable, November 10, 2005
Google did not confirm it.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
GoogleGuy said reinclusions and improvements to earlier Bourbon changes went out that day.
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
Bourbon update
Ranking shifts that WebmasterWorld members named Bourbon, with reports of some sites appearing to escape the Google sandbox. GoogleGuy described it as roughly 3.5 search quality improvements released in stages.
Confirmed by: GoogleGuy on WebmasterWorld
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, May 23, 2005 · Search Engine Roundtable, June 1, 2005
nofollow introduced for links
Google began giving no ranking credit to links carrying the rel="nofollow" attribute, aimed at comment spam on blogs and other areas where visitors can add links. Several blog software makers, MSN Search and Yahoo backed the change.
Source: The Official Google Blog
20041 entries, 0 confirmed by Google
Google did not confirm it. People talking on: WebmasterWorld.
20031 entries, 1 confirmed by Google
Florida update
The update nicknamed Florida changed Google's rankings and removed many spammy sites, though some searches also returned irrelevant results. Google engineering vice president Wayne Rosing was quoted by Forbes calling the outcome a quality gain for users.
Confirmed by: Wayne Rosing, Google vice president of engineering, to Forbes
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, December 3, 2003 · Search Engine Roundtable, December 14, 2007
On this site: The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know · Historical Update Pattern Analysis
What to do after each type of update
Each entry opens the matching note. The steps come from Google's page for that type, and anything that is our own reading says so.
Core updates62 on this list
A broad change to how Google ranks pages across the web. Google says it does not target a site or a page, so a drop does not mean a fault was found.
What to do
- Check the rollout has ended on Google's dashboard, then wait at least 1 full week.
- In Search Console, compare that week with the week before the rollout started. Entries on this list print those dates for you.
- Check web, image, video and news results one at a time.
- Small move, such as position 2 to 4: leave the pages alone. Large move, such as position 4 to 29: run Google's self-assessment on the pages that lost most, then on the site as a whole.
Do not: Quick fixes, like removing a page element because you heard it hurts. Google calls deleting content a last resort.
How long: Some changes show in days. Google says it can take several months, and sometimes the next core update. Smaller core updates it does not announce can also move a site.
From the source: Google: core updates and your website
On this site: Core Update Impact Assessment Framework · Diagnosing a Ranking Drop: A Systematic Attribution Framework · Diagnosing Traffic Drops After Updates · Building Algorithm-Resistant Content
Spam updates21 on this list
An improvement to Google's automated spam detection. It applies the spam policies, it does not change what good content means.
What to do
- Open the Manual Actions report first. A manual action has its own fix and its own review request.
- Read the spam policies and compare them with what the pages that lost are doing.
- Fix the practice across the site, not only on the pages that dropped.
Do not: Waiting for a reversal. A review request exists for manual actions only, it does nothing for an automated drop.
How long: Google says a site may improve if its systems learn, over a period of months, that the site follows the policies.
From the source: Google: spam updates and your site · Google: spam policies
On this site: How to Protect Your Site From Google Spam Updates · Recovering From Manual Actions · Google August 2025 Spam Update: What It Targeted and How to Recover
Link spam updates12 on this list
Updates that cancel the effect of spammy links, Penguin and the link spam updates among them. Penguin became part of the core systems in 2016.
What to do
- Check Manual Actions for an unnatural links action. Only that case has a review request.
- Stop buying or trading links, and mark paid links with rel="sponsored".
- Plan from the links you would keep if they passed no ranking value.
Do not: Expecting the old position back. Google says the benefit from those links is gone for good, so there is nothing to recover by cleaning up.
How long: No wait brings it back. New positions have to come from new value.
From the source: Google: spam updates, link spam section
On this site: Toxic Backlinks and the Disavow Tool: When (and When Not) to Use It · Recovering From Manual Actions · Guest Posting in 2026: Telling Quality Placements From Link-Spam Networks
Content quality updates42 on this list
Systems that judged how useful a site's content is: Panda, page layout, helpful content and their nicknamed cousins. Panda joined core in 2015 by Google's count and helpful content in March 2024, so a similar drop today is handled as a core update.
What to do
- Follow the core update steps above.
- Find the sections built for search first, not for people, and improve or merge them.
- Look at how much ads push down the main content on your templates.
Do not: Padding word counts or changing dates with nothing new on the page. Google calls deleting whole sections a last resort, for content that cannot be saved.
How long: Google says several months for its systems to confirm the site as a whole has changed.
From the source: Google: creating helpful, reliable content · Google: retired ranking systems
On this site: Google's Helpful Content System: How It Works and How to Survive It · How to Run a Content Audit That Actually Moves Traffic · Thin Content Penalty Resolution · The Pre-Publish Quality Gate for AI-Assisted Content
Reviews updates8 on this list
The reviews system rewards first-hand testing and original research. Google said the November 2023 update would be the last one it announced, so later changes come with no notice.
What to do
- Show evidence you used the thing: your own photos, audio, measurements.
- Say what sets it apart, who it suits and how it compares, with the drawbacks.
- Link to more than one seller when you recommend a product.
- For a best-of list, say why each pick earned its place.
Do not: Rewriting the maker's description or ranking products you never touched.
How long: Google gives no period. Treat it like a core update: wait for the rollout to end, then judge by the page.
From the source: Google: write high quality reviews · Search Engine Roundtable: last confirmed reviews update
On this site: How to Run a Content Audit That Actually Moves Traffic · Google's Helpful Content System: How It Works and How to Survive It
Speed, mobile and page experience19 on this list
Speed, mobile display, HTTPS, intrusive pop-ups and page layout. Google removed these as named systems from its guide in 2023 and still asks sites to get the overall experience right.
What to do
- Read Core Web Vitals from field data in Search Console, not from one lab test.
- Fix the worst template first, since it repeats across many pages.
- Check that pages display well on a phone and that nothing covers the main content.
- Check the HTTPS report.
Do not: Chasing a perfect lab score. Google says not to focus on only 1 or 2 aspects.
How long: Field data covers the last 28 days, so a fix shows slowly in the report.
From the source: Google: page experience
On this site: Core Web Vitals FAQ: Complete Guide to LCP, INP, and CLS · Core Web Vitals: Field Data vs Lab Data (CrUX Explained) · Mobile SEO FAQ: Mobile-First Indexing & Optimization Guide · Page Speed Study: Loading Time Impact on Rankings
Indexing systems8 on this list
Changes to how Google crawls and stores pages, such as Caffeine and mobile-first indexing. They change what Google can see, not how it judges it.
What to do
- Use URL Inspection on pages that lost traffic, and read the page Google actually fetched.
- Keep the same content, links and markup on phone and desktop.
- Read the Page indexing report for pages that left the index.
Do not: Rewriting content before you know Google can see the current version.
How long: Fixed pages come back as they are recrawled, so check the crawl date in URL Inspection.
From the source: Google: mobile-first indexing best practices
On this site: Mobile-First Indexing: How to Verify Google Is Using Your Mobile Pages Correctly · Find and Fix Index Coverage Errors in GSC · Using the GSC URL Inspection API to Monitor Indexing at Scale
Local updates26 on this list
Changes to the map and local results. Google says local ranking comes from relevance, distance and prominence.
What to do
- Check rankings from several points around the business, not one spot.
- Complete the Business Profile and keep hours and categories correct.
- Earn real reviews, and answer them.
Do not: Adding keywords to the business name. Google's profile rules ask for the real-world name.
How long: Google gives no period. Local swings often settle in days (our reading), so wait before changing the profile.
From the source: Google: how local results rank · Google: Business Profile guidelines
On this site: Multi-Location Local SEO at Scale: Location Page Templates, Internal Linking, and Avoiding Doorway Page Penalties · LocalBusiness Schema: A Complete Property Guide · Local Search Behavior Changes
Discover updates1 on this list
Changes to the Discover feed. Google says Discover uses many of the same signals as Search and calls its traffic less predictable than search visits.
What to do
- Open the Discover report in Search Console on its own, apart from web results.
- Avoid clickbait and sensational headlines, and use images at least 1200 px wide.
- Publish from real expertise on the topic: Google judges expertise topic by topic.
Do not: Treating Discover traffic as the base of the business. Google calls it supplemental, and says traffic can move with nothing wrong on the site.
How long: No period. Google says there may be nothing to do.
From the source: Google: Discover and your website · Google: February 2026 Discover update
On this site: Google Discover Optimization: Earning Traffic From a Feed You Can't Query · Google Discover Optimization Tactics
AI search6 on this list
Changes to the AI answers in Google Search. Google says there are no extra requirements and no special optimization to appear in them, and core updates affect them too.
What to do
- Read the Generative AI performance reports in Search Console.
- Make sure pages can be crawled, indexed and shown with a snippet.
- Compare impressions with clicks by page, since an answer can take the click.
Do not: Paying for AI-only tricks. Google warns against manipulating mentions, and no test we have seen shows llms.txt changing anything.
How long: Google gives no period.
From the source: Google: AI features and your website · Google: Generative AI reports · Search Engine Roundtable: Google on manipulating mentions
On this site: AI Readiness Checklist (2026): 50 Checks, Each With Its Source · How Google AI Mode Works and How to Optimize for It · Google AI Overviews: How to Optimize for AI Overview Citations · Can AI Crawlers Actually Read Your Site? I Measured 400 of the Biggest
Query understanding9 on this list
Google got better at reading what a search means: Hummingbird, RankBrain, BERT, passage ranking, MUM. Nothing on your site was judged.
What to do
- Read the queries you lost in Search Console, not only the pages.
- Check whether the results for those queries now answer a different need.
- Rewrite for what the searcher wants, or accept that the query was never really yours.
Do not: Trying to optimize for the system itself. Google says there is no RankBrain score to work on.
How long: No period. A page that now answers the need can move once recrawled.
From the source: Google: ranking systems guide · Search Engine Roundtable: no RankBrain score
On this site: Search Intent: The Four Types and How to Optimize for Each · What Is Semantic SEO and How to Use It · BERT
Results page changes10 on this list
The look of the results changed: titles, rich results, new blocks. Your rank may not have moved at all.
What to do
- Compare position with click rate. Flat position with fewer clicks points here.
- Check the rich result reports in Search Console.
- If Google rewrites your titles, fix the title, not the ranking.
Do not: Treating a click drop as a ranking drop.
How long: Applies when the change ships. Your fix shows after a recrawl.
From the source: Google: title links
On this site: Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: The Complete Guide · Title Tag CTR Optimization: Rewriting for Clicks Without Losing Rankings · How to Validate and Debug Structured Data When Rich Results Fail to Show · Featured Snippets & SERP Features FAQ: Winning Position Zero
Policies and guidelines10 on this list
A written rule changed: spam policies, site reputation, rater guidelines. Enforcement can be manual or automated.
What to do
- Read the exact words of the policy, not a summary of it.
- Check Manual Actions.
- If third-party content sits on your domain to rank on your name, take it off the site or block it from Search.
Do not: Moving the same content to a subfolder and calling it fixed.
How long: After a manual action, Google reviews your request. Otherwise the policy applies from the date on its page.
From the source: Google: spam policies
On this site: Recovering From Manual Actions · Parasite SEO · Black Hat SEO
Image Search14 on this list
Changes to Image Search, reported separately because they rarely touch web results.
What to do
- Set the Search type filter to Image in Search Console.
- Check that the image sits next to text about the same subject, on a page worth ranking.
Do not: Reading an image drop as a site-wide problem.
How long: No period given.
From the source: Google: image SEO
On this site: Image SEO: The Complete Guide · Image SEO Beyond Alt Text: File Names, Lazy Loading, and Google Images Ranking
Google bugs and outages25 on this list
Something broke on Google's side: crawling, indexing, serving or ranking. Google lists wide issues on its dashboard.
What to do
- Change nothing on the site.
- Write the dates down and leave those days out of your before and after comparisons.
- Check the entry again later for Google's end time.
Do not: Reindex requests in bulk, or edits made to fix what is not yours.
How long: Ends when Google fixes it, listed on the dashboard.
From the source: Google: using the Status Dashboard
On this site: Algorithm Update Monitoring Setup · Find and Fix Index Coverage Errors in GSC
Unconfirmed swings454 on this list
Trackers and site owners saw rankings move and Google did not confirm it. It can be a smaller core update, which Google does not announce, a test, a bug or tracker noise.
What to do
- Rule out your own causes first: technical problems, seasonality, a site move.
- Note the date next to your traffic chart.
- Wait until the move has held for about 2 weeks before you act on it.
Do not: Rewriting pages on the day of a spike. Most of these waves pass on their own (our reading, Google gives no number).
How long: Usually days (our reading). Check whether a confirmed update follows.
From the source: Google: debugging traffic drops
On this site: Algorithm Update Monitoring Setup · Diagnosing a Ranking Drop: A Systematic Attribution Framework · Algorithm Volatility
How this list works
Where the dates come from. First Google's Search Status Dashboard, in US Pacific time. Then Google's own posts. Where Google said nothing, Search Engine Roundtable, which has reported Google updates since 2003. Reported entries carry the day named in the report or, if none, the day of the report.
Google published it on its own page: the Status Dashboard, a Google blog or Google documentation.
135 of 727 entries.
A Google employee said it in public, on X, at an event or to the press. The link is the report of what they said.
94 of 727 entries.
Rank trackers, forums or the press saw it. Google has not confirmed it.
483 of 727 entries.
People reported an update and Google said it was not one, or played it down.
15 of 727 entries.
What is left out. Toolbar PageRank refreshes, Webmaster Tools link data, and news about other companies. Reports that were commentary and not about a date are left out too. Trackers named on a reported entry come from the report itself, not from our own reading of those tools.
Older pieces on this site. For the story behind the main eras, read The Google Algorithm Update History Every SEO Should Know and Historical Update Pattern Analysis.
Found a wrong date? Tell us and send the source.
Questions
How often does Google update its algorithm?
Constantly. Google says it made more than 3,200 changes to its search systems in 2018. The ones it names are far fewer: this list has 16 core updates on Google's dashboard since November 2021, and 3 of them started in the last 12 months.
How long does a Google core update take to roll out?
The median is 14 days across the 16 core updates with Google's own start and end dates. The shortest was December 2024 at 6 days, the longest was March 2024 at 45 days.
What is the difference between a confirmed and a reported update?
Confirmed means Google said it happened, on its own page or through an employee in public. Reported means rank trackers, forums or the press saw rankings move and Google has not said so. This list marks every entry with one of 4 labels so you can filter by them.
How do I know whether an update hit my site?
Wait for the rollout to end, then wait 1 more week. Compare that week with the week before the rollout started in Search Console, using the same 7 days of the week. Entries with a known rollout print those dates. Google's own page says this is the comparison to make for a core update.
Should I change anything after an unconfirmed update?
Not on the day. Check your own causes first: technical problems, seasonality, a site move. Note the date and wait to see whether the move holds for about 2 weeks. That wait is our reading: Google gives no number for it.
Why does this list start in 2003?
Florida, in November 2003, is the first update on this list with a dated report and a Google employee quoted about it. Earlier monthly index refreshes are not listed, and neither are Toolbar PageRank refreshes, which only changed a number in a browser toolbar.
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Claude Vincent is a technical SEO consultant focused on crawlability, rendering, and AI-search visibility. He writes the field guides and case studies at SEO ProCheck, with a bias toward the durable, unglamorous work that decides whether search engines and AI answer engines can actually read and cite a site.
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