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.
Google’s Official Announcement
Google announced its August 2023 core update on X (formerly Twitter) and linked to their search incident report.
Today we released the August 2023 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/sQ5COfdNcb
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) August 22, 2023
What Are People Saying?
SEO expert Barry Schwartz posted about the update on X and mentioned seeing little fluctuations in search results and shared more facts about the core update.
Here are some quick facts on this Google August 2023 core update at pic.twitter.com/8gD3BvMntS
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) August 23, 2023
Regarding the fluctuations, SEOs have already started noticing changes in their traffic. Some have seen positive movements in their SERP.
Hugged by core update pic.twitter.com/RTslr84x6W
— Devender Pal (@devpal18) August 23, 2023
The fluctuations in SERPs continued throughout the update, with webmasters watching their sites’ rankings go in either direction.
Glenn Gabe shared the analytics of a few sites. The first, a health and medical site, has a positive outlook after its rankings increased with the update. However, we cannot say the same for a lyrics site, which saw its rankings fall sharply.
More from the Aug core update. Huge drop for this site in the lyrics space after surging during previous updates including both the Sep 2022 core update & the March broad core update. Then a drop during April reviews update, but jumps back w/May volatility. Now tanking big-time pic.twitter.com/brQnt9Ra99
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) August 31, 2023
Previous Core Updates
Below is a rundown of the Google core updates we have documented over the last few years:
- March 2023 Core Update: March 15 – March 28, 2023
- September 2022 Core Update: September 12 – September 26, 2022
- May 2022 Core Update: May 25 – June 9, 2022
- November 2021 Core Update: November 17 – November 30, 2021
- July 2021 Core Update: July 1 – July 12, 2021
- June 2021 Core Update: June 3 – June 12, 2021
What’s Next – Dealing With This Update
This is an ongoing update, and considering we’re seeing mixed results, no one can predict how or whether they will be affected until it is over. To be on the safe side, you should regularly monitor your site with Rank Math’s Analytics. If you notice a drop in your traffic, refer to the video below for tips on recovering from a Google update.
