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.
Google’s Official Announcement
Google announced the release of the December 2024 Core Update on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. In both announcements, Google mentioned that the update is for a separate core system from the one updated during the November 2024 Core Update that ran from November 11 to December 5, 2024.
Google’s announcement of the December 2024 Core Update on X:
The Dec. 2024 core update is rolling out, and we expect it will complete in two weeks.
If you're wondering why there's a core update this month after one last month, we have different core systems we're always improving. This past blog post explains more: https://t.co/N5p3KsJyiI
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) December 12, 2024
Google’s announcement of the December 2024 Core Update on LinkedIn:
Google announced the completion of the December 2024 Core Update on X:
The rollout was complete as of December 18, 2024.
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) December 18, 2024
What Are People Saying?
The December 2024 Core Update is coming seven days after the November 2024 Core Update ended. Many bloggers and SEO did not see the update coming and had assumed the November 2024 Core Update was the last core update for the year. As expected, they voiced their displeasure on X.
Bloggers Respond to Google’s Announcement
Brendon Boshell shared a screenshot from Google’s documentation. In the screenshot, Google mentioned that it tries to avoid releasing updates during the holiday shopping season between late November and mid-December.
However, in 2024, Google released two updates during that period: the November 2024 Core Update (November 11 – December 5, 2024) and the December 2024 Core Update (December 12 – Ongoing).
lol pic.twitter.com/QoYewemeLg
— Brendon Boshell (@brendonboshell) December 12, 2024
Early Volatilities Observed by SEOs
The December 2024 Core Update caused volatilities on search results pages right after its release. On December 15, 2024, Barry Schwartz shared analytic reports indicating that the December 2024 Core Update was causing a lot of volatility on search results pages.
Google December 2024 core update has landed and it feels really big – lots of volatility, tools showing massive spikes and tons of chatter https://t.co/rY6oTU1Alp pic.twitter.com/HfUQocOK0B
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) December 15, 2024
A day later, on December 16, 2024, Glenn Gabe shared analytic reports of sites that were gaining and losing traffic to the December 2024 Core Update.
Heads-up. Like I thought would be the case, I am now seeing the December core update landing. I'm seeing surges and drops across a number of sites (across verticals). And like with any core update, there are some big surges and drops… So check your stats, and stay tuned. I'll… pic.twitter.com/nFwcYcLjs6
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) December 15, 2024
The same day, Lily Ray reported that a site that was recovering from the Helpful Content Update that ran from September 14 to 28, 2023, had suddenly lost its recovered traffic to the December 2024 Core Update.
The biggest HCU recovery I've seen so far is now seeing a massive drop with the December Core Update. pic.twitter.com/yp3mm87kBR
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) December 16, 2024
In another post, Barry mentioned Google had revealed that it was going to have more core updates often during the Google Search Central live event on December 12, 2024.
Google to have more core updates, more often – Google said at their Search Central Live event yesterday https://t.co/jHciWGosO8 via @suzukik pic.twitter.com/H6KtxmaICq
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) December 13, 2024
Later Volatilities Observed by SEOs
On December 17, 2024, Barry Schwartz reported that the December 2024 Core Update was still causing intense volatility on search results pages. However, the update ended abruptly the following day.
This Google Dec core update is still super heated https://t.co/oNXo2zAzr9
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) December 17, 2024
In response to Barry’s post, Glenn Gabe mentioned that the results of the December 2024 Core Update were mixed. Some sites gained traffic while others lost. Notably, Glenn observed that multiple sites lost the traffic they gained during the November 2024 Core Update.
It might have been short, but it sure packed a serious punch. There were some huge surges and big drops. And some reversasls from the November core update. Again, the systems that were updated as part of the Dec core update clearly counterbalanced some systems that were updated… https://t.co/YVF3OymCCz
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) December 19, 2024
Glenn Gabe suggested that Google released the December 2024 Core Update to counterbalance the November 2024 Core Update. He even shared the report of a site that gained traffic during the November 2024 Core Update, only to lose it to the December 2024 Core Update.
With the November core update, https://t.co/Z1vydgOyRK surged like mad, but some of that is reversing with the December core update (big-time). Whatever systems are being updated with the Dec core update must be very powerful to counterbalance what happened in November. Will be… pic.twitter.com/Zl2XZg4Dk8
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) December 16, 2024
Talking of gains and losses, Glenn Gabe added that the update severely affected ecommerce sites that relied on the holiday shopping season for sales. Many ecommerce sites gained traffic, while many others lost traffic.
Tough seeing ecommerce sites, or any site that relies on the holiday shopping season, see negative impact NOW. E.g. here's an ecommerce site dropping with the December core update. I have a number of sites documented that are ecommerce sites, or other sites that rely on the… pic.twitter.com/iDgPgEyGql
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) December 17, 2024
Previous Core Updates
The December 2024 Core Update is the fourth core update Google released in 2024 and one of the multiple core updates we have reported on since 2021. Below are the details of the other core updates:
- November 2024 Core Update: November 11 – December 5, 2024
- August 2024 Core Update: August 15 – September 3, 2024
- March 2024 Core Update: March 5 – April 19, 2024
- November 2023 Core Update: November 2 – November 28, 2023
- October 2023 Core Update: October 5 – October 19, 2023
- August 2023 Core Update: August 22 – September 7, 2023
- 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
The December 2024 Core Update started and ended abruptly. Its results were also mixed, with some sites gaining traffic and others losing it. You should monitor your site with Rank Math Analytics. If you lost traffic after the update is completed, refer to this guide on recovering from a Google algorithm update.
