November 11, 2024
Confirmed
November 2024 Core Update
Google released the November 2024 Core Update on November 11, 2024, and expects it to be completed within two weeks.
September 3, 2024
Unconfirmed
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.
August 15, 2024
Confirmed
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.
August 15, 2024
Confirmed
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.
July 18, 2024
Unconfirmed
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.
June 20, 2024
Confirmed
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.
May 9, 2024
Unconfirmed
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.
May 6, 2024
Confirmed
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.
March 5, 2024
Confirmed
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.
March 5, 2024
Confirmed
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.
February 7, 2024
Unconfirmed
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.
January 4, 2024
Unconfirmed
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.
December 22, 2023
Unconfirmed
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.
November 15, 2023
Confirmed
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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November 8, 2023
Confirmed
November 2023 Reviews Update
Google released an update to its reviews system on November 8, 2023. Google didn’t give a timeline for the update but mentioned that it’ll update its rankings release history page once it is complete.
Google later updated its rankings release history page, indicating it completed the update on December 7, 2023.
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November 2, 2023
Confirmed
November 2023 Core Update
Google announced the rollout of November 2023 Core Update on November 2, 2023. The update was completed on November 28, 2023.
This is the fourth core update Google has released in 2023 and exactly two weeks after the October 2023 Core Update, which ran from October 5 to 19, 2023.
October 5, 2023
Confirmed
October 2023 Core Update
Google released a core update to its search ranking algorithm on October 5, 2023. The update lasted two weeks and was completed on October 19, 2023.
This was the third core update Google released in 2023. It is crucial to note that the update ran alongside the October 2023 Spam Update, which was released a day earlier on October 4, 2023.
October 4, 2023
Confirmed
October 2023 Spam Update
Google rolled out an update to its spam detection system on October 4, 2023. The update took 15 days to roll out and was completed on October 20, 2023. With this update, Google aimed to reduce the visible spam in search results, particularly cloaking, hacked, auto-generated, and scraped spam.
Though the update applied globally, it was expected to improve the coverage in Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Hindi, Chinese, and other languages.
September 14, 2023
Confirmed
September 2023 Helpful Content Update
Google has released another update to its helpful content system. The update was released on September 14, 2023, and was completed two weeks later, on September 28, 2023. Google mentioned that this update will improve the classifier system it uses to determine the usefulness of content.
August 22, 2023
Confirmed
August 2023 Core Update
Google released a core update to its search ranking algorithm on August 22, 2023, and completed rolling out on September 7, 2023.
The effect of the August 2023 core update on search results is mixed. Similar to the previous updates, we expect severe fluctuations and volatility over this period.
July 14, 2023
Unconfirmed
Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update (July 2023)
Google might have rolled out another unconfirmed update to its search algorithm. The fluctuations from this update is so extreme that several SERP tracking tools displayed figures they had never shown before.
Several SEOs and site owners reported a 70 – 80% drop in Google traffic. Some sites even disappeared from SERPs entirely. Other webmasters pointed out a massive drop in traffic from the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
June 28, 2023
Unconfirmed
Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update (28th & 29th June 2023)
Several SERP tracking tools indicate that Google might have updated its search ranking algorithm. While Google has not confirmed the update, many SEOs reported a serious drop in search traffic between June 28 and 29, 2023.
The SEO space is surprisingly quiet for an update of this magnitude. As someone suggested, SEOs might have missed the unconfirmed update because of the switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
June 14, 2023
Unconfirmed
Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update (14th June 2023)
Google may have recently updated its search ranking algorithm. The result of this unconfirmed update was evident on June 14, 2023, when several SEOs reported spikes in their Google rankings.
Unlike previous unconfirmed updates where SEOs reported drops in their traffic, they even reported increased traffic from Google. Some even noticed 200% more traffic than usual.
May 10, 2023
Unconfirmed
Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update (10th & 11th May 2023)
Google might have rolled out an update to its search ranking algorithm between May 10, 2023, and May 11, 2023. On both days, several website tracking tools detected unusual spikes in the rankings of the websites they were monitoring.
SEOs and webmasters noted significant drops in their traffic, especially those originating from the US. Some SEOs and webmasters also reported traffic drops in sites unaffected by previous updates. However, since Google did not officially announce the May 10 and 11, 2023 update, its intent remains unclear.
May 1, 2023
Unconfirmed
Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update (1st & 2nd May 2023)
Google may have recently launched an update to its search ranking algorithm. The effect of the update was evident on May 1, 2023, but became more noticeable on May 2, 2023, when many SEOs reported spikes in their traffic and conversions.
Several SEOs have reported a sharp drop in traffic, followed by an increase and another drop. Others have indicated zero drops but lesser conversions. While the details remain unclear, there are suggestions that this unconfirmed update be linked to the confirmed April 2023 Reviews Update.