Google released the March 2026 Core Update on March 27, 2026 and completed it on April 8, 2026. The update lasted about two weeks, and according to Google, improved how relevant content is served to users.
Google’s Official Announcement
Google announced the March 2026 Core Update on its X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn pages.
Today we released the March 2026 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/tBENzbTqB2
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) March 27, 2026
What Are People Saying?
Creators were skeptical about the March 2026 Core Update, with many worried that it may take away whatever was left of their traffic.
Creators React to Google’s Announcement
In response to Google’s X post, Alexej Kirillov shared the March 2026 analytics reports of his Bing and Google traffic. The report showed he gained traffic on Bing, while he lost it on Google.
Same site, Google vs Bing. GG pic.twitter.com/LZv3FXRyB4
— Alex (@AlexejKirillov) March 27, 2026
Early Volatiles Observed by SEOs
On March 29 and 31, 2026, Glenn Gabe shared reports of some sites impacted by the March 2026 Core Update. Some gained traffic while others lost it. However, the gains and losses were minimal.
Good Morning Google Land! This is the March 31st edition of "Core Update Notes". There has been a slow start to this broad core update for whatever reason… but I am starting to see drops and surges more clearly this morning. It's still not at the level of a typical broad core… pic.twitter.com/9wyPRSvLnP
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 31, 2026
On April 1, 2026, Glenn Gabe shared additional observations about the update. He noted that many sites were still experiencing volatility, although it was mild compared to previous core updates.
Good Morning Google Land! This is the April 1st edition of "Core Update Notes". This is a strange rollout so far… Although I have surfaced some sites seeing a lot of movement, overall the volatility is not even close to previous broad core updates (like the December 2025 core… pic.twitter.com/4RnxAdu92Z
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) April 1, 2026
Later Volatiles Observed by SEOs
On April 3, 2026, Glenn Gabe reported that AI tools were losing traffic during the March 2026 Core Update. He noted that the content on the affected sites was typically generated using AI.
Core Update Notes cont'd: Like I explained above, it was interesting to see several AI tools drop with the March 2026 core update so far. As you can imagine, a lot of that content was 100% AI generated. I'm seeing those sites drop for thousands of queries… Anyway, just an… pic.twitter.com/nWiPW7Fqs6
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) April 3, 2026
On April 6, 2026, Lily Ray shared reports of multiple sites losing traffic during the March 2026 Core Update. These sites published promotional list-style articles and had already started losing traffic during a ranking volatility that occurred on January 21, 2026.
Not all sites with self-promotional listicles have been hit, but for the handful that were hit on ~Jan 21, the crash is still crashing.
As a reminder, these sites used dozens/hundreds/thousands of self-promotional listicles (plus other spammy approaches) pic.twitter.com/Ri1SdOPJ1t
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) April 6, 2026
Top Winners of the March 2026 Core Update
Compared to previous core updates, most sites experienced less volatility during the March 2026 Core Update. However, while traffic gains were generally modest across the board, some sites recorded significant wins.
Here are the top winners of the March 2026 Core Update.
1 accor.com
The hotel management company accor.com saw its traffic spike by 1,890%, from four million to 84 million, making it the top winner. This is a significant increase for any update, and even more notable in the context of the March 2026 Core Update, where most sites saw only modest changes in traffic.
2 newrepublic.com
The news site newrepublic.com saw its traffic nearly triple, increasing from 213,518 to 745,530, a 249% rise, making it the second-highest gainer of the March 2026 Core Update.
However, The New Republic’s traffic began to decline after the spike. For context, it recorded a similarly significant increase, from 233,728 to 456,546, during the December 2025 Core Update, but later lost much of those gains before the March 2026 Core Update.
3 moneywise.com
moneywise.com, a financial news site, experienced a 138% increase in traffic, rising from 38,907 to 92,743. While notable, its traffic remained within the five-figure range.
4 forums.digitalspy.com
The Digital Spy forum saw an 89% increase in traffic, rising from 61,182 pre-update to 115,646 post-update. This is significant, given that the March 2026 Core Update did not drive major traffic increases within the discussions and forums niche.
5 GitHub Discussions
The GitHub Discussions Community is another of our top winners. Its traffic increased 84%, going from 71,927 pre-update to 132,417 post-update.
Top Losers of the December 2025 Core Update
As expected, some sites lost traffic during the March 2026 Core Update. Here are the biggest losers that lost 50% or more of their traffic to the update.
1 truthout.org
The news site, truthout.org, lost 81% of its traffic during the March 2026 Core Update, dropping from 181,649 to 34,899. This made it the hardest-hit site and top loser of this update.
2 abcnews.go.com
ABC News is another news site that lost traffic to the March 2026 Core Update. Its traffic dropped by 67%, going from 451,483 pre-update to 148,192 post-update. This drop is unsurprising considering news sites were the most hard hit by this update.
3 mls.com
The real estate listing site, mls.com, lost 61% of its traffic to this update. Its organic traffic fell by 195,765, dropping from 321,564 to 125,799.
4 forums.macrumors.com
Discussions and forum site, forums.macrumors.com, is another top loser of the March 2026 Core Update. It lost 55% of its traffic, dropping from 594,593 pre-update to 270,352 post-update.
How the March 2026 Core Update Impacted Various Websites
We monitored hundreds of sites in various verticals to see how the March 2026 Core Update impacted their organic traffic. Here are the verticals we monitored along with their top winning and losing sites.
- Affiliate sites
- Forum and discussion sites
- Food and recipe sites
- E-commerce sites
- Health and wellness sites
- Finance and investing sites
- Travel and hospitality sites
- Real estate sites
- Media and publishing sites
1 Affiliate Sites
Multiple affiliate sites saw increases in their traffic, while many others experienced drops. However, the losses were modest particularly when compared with previous updates.
Here are the top winners in the affiliate category.
Here are the top losers in the affiliate category.
2 Forum and Discussion Sites
Traffic gains and losses were generally modest within the forums and discussions niche. However, a few outliers saw significant gains, while others experienced sharp declines.
These forums and discussions sites gained traffic during the March 2026 Core Update.
These forums and discussions sites lost traffic during the March 2026 Core Update.
3 Food and Recipe Sites
Volatility was mild within the food and recipe niche, with most sites seeing gains or losses below 20%. This indicates there was no major shifts, though a few outliers experienced notable increases or declines.
These food and recipe sites gained traffic.
These food and recipe sites lost traffic.
4 E-Commerce Sites
Traffic changes among e-commerce sites were mostly below 20%. Large gains were concentrated among already high-traffic sites, while most others saw no significant losses.
These e-commerce sites gained traffic during the update.
These e-commerce sites lost traffic during the update.
5 Health and Wellness Sites
Multiple sites within the health and wellness niche were mildly affected by the March 2026 Core Update. However, there was no major shift for the most part.
Here are the top winners in the health and wellness niche.
Here are the top losers in the health and wellness niche.
6 Finance and Investment Sites
The finance and investment niche experienced considerable volatility, with multiple sites recording gains and losses exceeding 25%. Notably, the top-performing site in the category saw a 138% increase in organic traffic.
Here are the top winners in the finance and investment category.
Here are the top losers in the finance and investment category.
7 Travel and Hospitality Sites
Organic traffic in the travel and hospitality niche was generally stable during the update, with most sites remaining within a 20% range of gains or losses.
However, a small number of outliers saw significant gains and losses. This includes the top winner of the March 2026 Core Update, which recorded a massive 1,890% increase in organic traffic.
Here are the top winners within the travel and hospitality niche.
Here are the top losers within the travel and hospitality niche.
8 Real Estate Sites
Traffic gains in the real estate niche were generally minimal, with most sites seeing increases in the single-digit range. However, the losses were more pronounced, and typically fell within double-digit percentages.
These real estate sites gained traffic during the update.
These real estate sites lost traffic during the update.
9 Legal Sites
The legal category saw more losses than gains. Gains were generally below 5%, with the exception of a single outlier. However, losses were in the double digits and typically exceeded 20%.
These legal sites gained traffic during the update.
These legal sites lost traffic during the update.
10 Media and Publishing Sites
The media and publishing niche experienced significant volatility during the March 2026 Core Update, with traffic moving in both directions. Multiple sites lost over half of their traffic, while an outlier recorded a 249% increase.
These media and publishing sites gained traffic during the update.
These media and publishing sites lost traffic during the update.
Previous Core Updates
The March 2026 Core Update is Google’s first Core Update in 2026. It is also one of the many core updates we have covered. The others include:
- December 2025 Core Update: December 11 – 29, 2025
- June 2025 Core Update: June 30 – July 17, 2025
- March 2025 Core Update: March 13 – March 27, 2025
- December 2024 Core Update: December 12 – December 18, 2024
- 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 March 2026 Core Update caused moderate volatility in Google search results. While lower than in previous core updates, it remains significant, particularly in the health, finance, media, and legal niches, which experienced the highest levels of volatility.
For context, these niches typically require strong E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to rank on Google.
With that said, you should monitor your site with Rank Math Analytics to see how you were impacted. If you lost traffic, watch the video below on how to recover from a Google algorithm update.
