Google Algorithm Updates

March 2026 Core Update

Google released the March 2026 Core Update on March 27, 2026. Google stated the update will improve how relevant content is served to users, and expects the rollout to complete within two weeks.

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March 2026 Spam Update

Google released an update to its spam system between March 24 and 25, 2026. The update was unusually brief and barely lasted for 20 hours.

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February 2026 Discover Core Update

Google rolled out the February 2026 Discover Core Update from February 5, 2026 to February 27, 2026. The update lasted for 22 days, which is longer than the two weeks time frame initially announced by Google. 

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December 2025 Core Update

Google released the December 2025 Core Update on December 11, 2025 and completed it on December 29, 2025. The update ran for 18 days, which is well within the three weeks timeline announced by Google. 

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August 2025 Spam Update

Google released an update to its spam system between August 26 and September 22, 2025. Google did not mention a specific end date at the time of release, and the rollout ultimately took 27 days to complete. 

With that said, note that this was a spam update targeting spammy results on search engine results pages. It is not a link spam update. (Google releases updates to its link spam system separately.) 

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June 2025 Core Update

Google released the June 2025 Core Update on June 30, 2025, and completed it on July 17, 2025. The update rolled out for two and a half weeks, a few days short of the three weeks originally slated for its completion.

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Unconfirmed Google Algorithm Update (May/June 2025)

Google may have released an unconfirmed update to its search ranking algorithm between 26th May, 2025 and early June 2025. Several SEOs and bloggers reported that Google was deindexing their previously indexed pages, and crawling but not indexing their new pages. 

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March 2025 Core Update

Google released the March 2025 Core Update on March 13, 2025, and completed it on March 27, 2025. The update took exactly 14 days (two weeks), which was the exact timeline Google projected for its completion.

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Unconfirmed Google Local Ranking Update (Jan 2025)

Google may have released an update to its local ranking system between January 5 and 6, 2025. Multiple bloggers reported experiencing volatility on the local search results pages, with many suddenly losing rankings. However, the bloggers later recovered their rankings, leading to considerations that the loss of rankings may have resulted from a bug rather than an unconfirmed update.

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December 2024 Spam Update

Google released an update to its spam detection system between December 19 and 26, 2024. Named the December 2024 Spam Update, the update arrived a day after the December 2024 Core Update abruptly ended and was completed within a week.

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December 2024 Core Update

Google released the December 2024 Core Update on December 12, 2024, and abruptly completed it on December 18, 2024. The core update lasted six days, significantly less than the two weeks Google expected it to last.

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November 2024 Core Update

Google released the November 2024 Core Update between November 11, 2024, and December 5, 2024. The update took over three weeks, even though Google originally expected to complete it within two weeks.

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Prolonged Google SERP Volatility (September – October 2024)

Google search results pages have been experiencing unusually prolonged volatility since the completion of the August 2024 Core Update on September 3, 2024. This volatility, possibly due to an unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update, has persisted for a month, continuing into October 3, 2024.

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August 2024 Core Update

Google released the August 2024 Core Update on August 15, 2024. It was completed 19 days later, on September 3, 2024. 

However, Google also experienced an unrelated ranking issue on August 15, 2024, the same day it released the August 2024 Core Update. The ranking issue was resolved on August 20, 2024. 

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August 2024 Ranking Issue

Google experienced a search ranking issue between August 15 and 20, 2024. The issue began the same day Google released the August 2024 Core Update. However, Google clarified that the ranking issue is unrelated to the core update. 

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Unconfirmed Search Ranking Algorithm Update (July 2024)

Google may have released an update to its search ranking algorithm between July 18 and August 1, 2024. Several search tracking tools detected volatility similar to that of an algorithm update, and SEOs reported fluctuations in their traffic.

There are considerations that this unconfirmed update may actually be two unconfirmed updates, with one starting on July 18, 2024, and the other one starting on July 22, 2024.

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June 2024 Spam Update

Google released an update to its spam detection system on June 20, 2024. The update targeted sites that engaged in practices that violate Google’s spam policies. It was completed on June 27, 2024. 

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Unconfirmed Search Ranking Algorithm Update (May 2024)

Google may have released an update to its search ranking algorithm on May 9, 2024. Search tracking tools detected nonstop volatility on search results pages even several days after May 9, 2024. Some SEOs also suggested the volatility may have started on May 3, 2024. 

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Google Site Reputation Abuse Update

Google rolled out the manual actions for the site reputation abuse on May 6, 2024. Google said the update kicked off a day earlier on May 5, 2024, though it only started issuing manual actions to affected sites on May 6, 2024.

Google updated the site reputation abuse update policy on November 19, 2024, and continued issuing more sites with a manual action penalty. The algorithm component of the site reputation abuse update is expected to be released at a future date.

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March 2024 Spam Update 

Google rolled out an update to its spam detection system on March 5, 2024. It was released alongside an update to Google’s spam policies and the March 2024 Core Update, and was completed on March 20, 2024.

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March 2024 Core Update

Google rolled out the March 2024 Core Update between March 5 and April 19, 2024. However, Google only announced its completion one week later, on April 26, 2024. Unlike previous core updates, this was an update to multiple core systems.

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Unconfirmed Search Ranking Algorithm Update (Feb 2024)

Google may have released an update to its search ranking algorithm on February 7 and 8, 2024. Several search ranking tracking tools recorded volatilities on both days, and SEOs observed movements in their search traffic. However, the increased traffic is mostly spam and from outside the US.

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Unconfirmed Local Ranking Algorithm Update (Jan 2024)

Google may have released an update to its local ranking algorithm on January 4 and 9, 2024. BrightLocal’s Local RankFlux tool shows the volatility in local search traffic on both days. Local SEOs also reported massive changes in their client’s rankings on January 4, 2024.

That said, it is unclear whether these updates are linked to Google’s openness update. On December 15, 2023, Google confirmed it now considers a store’s opening hours a strong signal for non-navigational search queries. This confirmation came after SEOs noticed businesses vanished from local search results when they were not open.

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Unconfirmed Search Ranking Algorithm Update (Dec 2023)

Google may have released an update to its search ranking algorithm, and multiple SERP tracking tools have recorded volatilities on search results pages between December 22 and 24, 2023. Many site owners complained of massive drops in traffic, while others reported a slight increase in traffic. 

However, it remains unclear whether this volatility resulted from an unconfirmed algorithm update or a combination of the usual traffic drop experienced around Christmas and the Google indexing issue of December 21, 2023.

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Hidden Gems Ranking Algorithm Update

In its latest blog post, Google announced the Hidden Gems Ranking Algorithm update that started rolling out several months ago but only revealed for the first time now.

This update will allow helpful, personal, first-hand user-generated content posted on blogs, online forums, and social media sites to be displayed in search results.

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