Google released the May 2026 Core Update on May 21, 2026, and completed it on June 2, 2026. The update took 12 days to complete, two days less than the estimated two weeks.
Google’s Official Announcement
Google announced the May 2026 Core Update on its X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn pages.
Today we released the May 2026 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/ZfiT6txJk5
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) May 21, 2026
What Are People Saying?
As with most Google core updates, creators generally reacted negatively to this update, raising concerns that it would further erode the little traffic they have left. SEOs, on the other hand, monitored traffic changes to offer insights into what may be happening.
Creators React to Google’s Announcement
In response to Google’s announcement post, several creators voiced concerns that Google was not ranking small sites and was taking away the little traffic they had left. A user named Tetra shared a meme that perfectly captured this frustration.
Site owners looking at their site with 275 organic traffic for the past three years: pic.twitter.com/a9r4GVXKkp
— Tetra | ChadFish (@TetraChad) May 22, 2026
Early Volatiles Observed by SEOs
On May 25, 2026, Glenn Gabe shared analytics reports of sites gaining and losing traffic due to the May 2026 Core Update.
He noted that many health and medical sites were experiencing volatility, as were forums, reference, and lyrics sites, as well as sites that had engaged in risky SEO and GEO techniques for AI Search.
Good Morning Google Land! This is the 5/23 edition of "Core Update Notes". Unlike the March core update, which was a weird one, the May broad core update looks like it's landing already. I've been running the visibility numbers for many sites that have been previously impacted by… pic.twitter.com/7rG5s8WK07
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) May 23, 2026
On May 27, 2026, Glenn Gabe shared additional reports indicating that volatility had spread to travel sites, particularly niche ones.
Good Morning Google Land! This is the 5/27 edition of "Core Update Notes". As I covered a few days ago, the update landed relatively quickly. I've seen impact across many verticals and countries, which is what you would expect with a broad core update. Again, this is more like a… pic.twitter.com/neCtObdRoP
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) May 27, 2026
On May 28, 2026, Lily Ray reported that featured snippets were replacing AI Overviews since the core update began. Barry Schwartz replied, saying he had heard similar reports.
some are saying that – i wonder if we can get data on this from @semrush or @seranking cc @MordyOberstein
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) May 28, 2026
On May 29, 2026, Lily Ray reported that multiple large US government .gov sites were losing traffic due to the Google May 2026 Core Update.
The trend continues: a handful of big .gov sites appear to be dropping with this core update pic.twitter.com/eISdJKY6Fo
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) May 28, 2026
Later Volatiles Observed by SEOs
The volatility intensified as the May 2026 Core Update neared completion. Multiple SEOs reported significant volatility that began on May 29, 2026, and peaked on May 30, 2026.
On May 31, 2026, Glenn Gabe shared reports indicating that gambling websites were being affected by the update. Some experienced traffic gains while others saw significant declines.
Yep, some serious volatility in the gambling niche with the May 2026 broad core update. Definitely a hyper-YMYL category so it can see major volatility during major updates (and outside major updates during what Google calls "smaller core updates".) Here are a few examples of… https://t.co/KPP1RZ4nH8 pic.twitter.com/bqKQqbCfds
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) May 31, 2026
On June 1, 2026, Lily Ray shared reports of websites that were gaining traffic during the May 2026 Core Update.
A handful of sites started seeing big surges over the weekend with the core update pic.twitter.com/5lrFM2ayBI
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) June 1, 2026
Later that same day, on June 1, 2026, Lily Ray shared analytics data showing that multiple large .gov websites were still losing traffic. Some had lost more than half of their traffic, while others had lost over 90%.
The trend continues: a handful of U.S. federal government domains are quickly crashing toward 0 organic search visibility.
These sites also experienced a huge drop in indexed pages over the last year, as much of their content was deleted in early 2025. pic.twitter.com/oRHsGFr2h7
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) June 1, 2026
On June 2, 2026, Barry Schwartz reported severe volatility on Google search results pages. Soon after, the May 2026 Core Update rollout was completed.
Google May 2026 core update volatility spikes big time today, Tuesday, June 2nd – just when you thought it was over… https://t.co/SMlWNLa6Lw pic.twitter.com/OUSsSNRUF5
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) June 2, 2026
Top Winners of the May 2026 Core Update
The gains from the May 2026 Core Update were generally moderate. The gains were generally below 62%, and there was no outlier as we often see with other core updates. Here are the top winners.
1 scotusblog.com
The legal site SCOTUSblog was the biggest winner of the May 2026 Core Update. Its traffic increased by 62%, from 306,117 to 495,123, making it the top-performing site during the rollout.
2 nbcnews.com
The news site NBC News saw its traffic increase from 6,159,750 before the update to 9,461,097 after the update. This represents a 54% increase, making it the second-biggest winner of the May 2026 Core Update.
3 bestproducts.com
The affiliate site Best Products saw its traffic increase from 53,883 to 81,163 during the May 2026 Core Update. While the increase is relatively modest, it remains significant for the site.
4 seriouseats.com
The food and recipe site Serious Eats saw its traffic increase from 12,561,714 to 17,361,141 during the May 2026 Core Update. This represents a 38% increase, which is notable for a site of its size.
5 cbsnews.com
The news site CBS News saw its traffic increase by 35%, rising from 7,715,366 to 10,397,738 during the May 2026 Core Update, making it the fifth-biggest winner of the update.
Top Losers of the May 2026 Core Update
Several sites experienced significant traffic declines during the May 2026 Core Update. While many losses were moderate, some sites saw substantial drops in visibility. Here are the biggest losers.
1 reason.com/volokh
The Volokh Conspiracy, the legal blog hosted on Reason, lost 70% of its traffic during the May 2026 Core Update. Traffic dropped sharply a few days after the update began, falling from 44,770 before the update to 13,460 after it was completed.
2 thestreet.com
The finance and investment site TheStreet lost 58% of its traffic during the May 2026 Core Update, dropping from 2,106,447 before the update to 886,157 after the update. Its traffic began declining shortly after the update began and continued to fall throughout the rollout.
3 newrepublic.com
The media site New Republic was the third-biggest loser of the May 2026 Core Update. Its traffic fell by 57%, dropping from 483,803 before the update to 206,653 after the rollout was completed.
4 politico.com
The news site Politico lost more than half of its traffic during the update, declining by 54% from 3,310,442 to 1,508,941. Traffic fell sharply in the early days of the rollout before recovering slightly in its final days.
5 dealnews.com
The affiliate site DealNews lost 44% of its traffic, which dropped from 259,053 to 145,088 during the May 2026 Core Update. The decline began shortly after the update was released and continued until roughly the midpoint of the rollout.
How the May 2026 Core Update Impacted Various Websites
We monitored multiple websites across various niches to determine how they were affected by the May 2026 Core Update. Below are the categories we tracked, along with their top-performing and worst-performing 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 traffic gains during the May 2026 Core Update, while others experienced notable declines. Here are the affiliate sites that gained the most traffic during the update.
And here are the affiliate sites that lost the most traffic.
2 Forum and Discussion Sites
Traffic gains and losses were relatively modest across forums and discussion sites, with overall traffic remaining largely stable throughout the rollout. The largest percentage changes occurred on sites with relatively low traffic, while larger forums experienced little to no movement.
That said, here are the forum and discussion sites that gained traffic during the update.
On the other hand, these forums and discussion sites lost traffic.
3 Food and Recipe Sites
Food and recipe sites were largely unaffected by the May 2026 Core Update. Traffic losses were generally minimal, while a few sites recorded moderate gains. Overall, most websites in this niche experienced little change in visibility.
Here are the food and recipe sites that gained the most traffic.
Meanwhile, these food and recipe sites lost traffic during the update.
4 E-Commerce Sites
E-commerce sites were generally unaffected by the May 2026 Core Update. While some sites gained traffic, most increases remained below 11%. Likewise, traffic declines were relatively limited, with losses generally remaining below 16%.
That said, these e-commerce sites gained traffic during the May 2026 Core Update.
Meanwhile, these sites lost traffic during the update.
5 Health and Wellness Sites
Volatility within the health and wellness niche generally remained below 20%. Both gains and losses were generally moderate, with one notable exception: a 43% increase in traffic. Overall, these sites saw positive traffic growth during the update.
Meanwhile, the following health and wellness sites experienced a decline in traffic during the May 2026 Core Update.
6 Finance and Investment Sites
Finance and investment sites recorded moderate traffic gains during the May 2026 Core Update. However, some websites, such as TheStreet, experienced significant declines, with losses of up to 58%. Overall, the niche appears to have been noticeably impacted by the update.
That said, here are the finance and investment sites that gained traffic during the May 2026 Core Update.
Meanwhile, these finance and investment sites lost traffic during the update.
7 Travel and Hospitality Sites
Several travel and hospitality sites recorded moderate traffic gains during the May 2026 Core Update. However, traffic losses were generally more significant, with multiple sites experiencing declines of up to 21%.
Here are the travel and hospitality sites that gained traffic during the update.
Meanwhile, these sites lost traffic during the update.
8 Real Estate Sites
The real estate niche was only mildly affected by the May 2026 Core Update. Both gains and losses were generally minimal. A few mid-sized sites with fewer than 30,000 monthly visitors before the update recorded double-digit growth, though most gains remained in the single digits.
That said, these sites saw their traffic increase during the update.
9 Media and Publishing Sites
News and publishing sites experienced some of the largest gains and losses during the May 2026 Core Update. The biggest winner in this category, NBC News, recorded a 54% increase in traffic. Meanwhile, some sites experienced traffic declines of up to 57%.
These media and publishing sites saw their traffic increase during the May 2026 Core Update.
On the other hand, these media and publishing sites saw their traffic decline during the update.
Previous Core Updates
The May 2026 Core Update is Google’s second core update of 2026 and one of the many Google updates we’ve documented over the years. Other core updates include:
- March 2026 Core Update: March 27 – April 8, 2026
- 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 May 2026 Core Update caused significant volatility across Google Search, with some sites recording substantial gains while others experienced notable declines. However, unlike many previous core updates, several bloggers reported traffic recoveries and positive outcomes during the rollout.
Overall, you should monitor your site with Rank Math Analytics to see how you were affected. If you lost traffic, refer to this article on recovering from a Google algorithm update.
