Google Search updates

What Google announced

1. Released the September 2026 spam update, which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take up to two weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of October 8, 2026.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the August 2026 spam update, which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of August 21, 2026.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the June 2026 spam update, which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of June 26, 2026.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the May 2026 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of June 2, 2026.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2026 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of April 8, 2026.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2026 spam update, which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of March 25, 2026.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the February 2026 Discover core update for English language users in the US (will look to expand it to all countries and languages in the future). This update is designed to improve the quality of Discover overall. Our guidance about general core updates and Discover applies. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of February 27, 2026.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to the systems that select content for Discover, not to regular search results. Traffic from Discover may rise or fall; many sites see no change.

What to look at: the Discover report in Search Console, separately from search performance. Google's general guidance on core updates applies here too.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the December 2025 core update. The rollout may take up to 3 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of December 29, 2025.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the August 2025 spam update, which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 22, 2025.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the June 2025 core update. The rollout may take up to 3 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of July 17, 2025.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2025 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of March 27, 2025.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the December 2024 spam update, which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take up to 1 week to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of December 26, 2024.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the December 2024 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of December 18, 2024.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the November 2024 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of December 5, 2024.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the August 2024 core update. The rollout may take up to a month to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 3, 2024.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the June 2024 spam update. The rollout may take up to 1 week to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of June 27, 2024.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2024 core update. The rollout may take up to a month to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of April 19, 2024.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2024 spam update. The rollout may take up 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of March 20, 2024.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the November 2023 reviews update. Learn more about how to write high quality reviews. Going forward, as the reviews system is now being improved at a regular and ongoing pace, we will no longer be posting about future updates on the status dashboard.
2. The rollout was complete as of December 7, 2023.

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the November 2023 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of November 28, 2023.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the October 2023 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of October 19, 2023.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the October 2023 spam update, which applies globally and improves our coverage in many languages, including Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Hindi, Chinese, and other languages.
2. The rollout was complete as of October 20, 2023.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the September 2023 helpful content update, which improves our classifier. It will take about two weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 28, 2023.

What this type of update affects

An update to the helpful content system, which favoured content made for people over content made mainly to attract search traffic. Since March 2024 it is part of Google's core ranking systems, and there are no separate helpful content updates anymore.

What to look at: whether a shift affects the site broadly or only certain pages, and which content was made mainly for search traffic.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the August 2023 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 7, 2023.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the April 2023 reviews update, which now covers reviews about products, services, and things. Learn more about how to write high quality reviews.
2. The rollout was complete as of April 25, 2023.

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2023 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.
2. The rollout was complete as of March 28, 2023.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the February 2023 product reviews update. This update applies to the following languages globally: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish.
2. The rollout was complete as of March 7, 2023

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the December 2022 link spam update. This update is global and affects all languages.
2. The rollout was complete as of January 12, 2023

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the December 2022 helpful content update, which improves our classifier and works across content globally in all languages.
2. The rollout was complete as of January 12, 2023

What this type of update affects

An update to the helpful content system, which favoured content made for people over content made mainly to attract search traffic. Since March 2024 it is part of Google's core ranking systems, and there are no separate helpful content updates anymore.

What to look at: whether a shift affects the site broadly or only certain pages, and which content was made mainly for search traffic.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the October 2022 spam update. This update is global and affects all languages.
2. The rollout was complete as of October 21, 2022

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the September 2022 product reviews update. This update applies to English-language product reviews.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 26, 2022.

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the September 2022 core update.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 26, 2022

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the August 2022 helpful content update.
2. The rollout was complete as of September 9, 2022.

What this type of update affects

An update to the helpful content system, which favoured content made for people over content made mainly to attract search traffic. Since March 2024 it is part of Google's core ranking systems, and there are no separate helpful content updates anymore.

What to look at: whether a shift affects the site broadly or only certain pages, and which content was made mainly for search traffic.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the July 2022 product reviews update for English-language product reviews.
2. The rollout was complete as of August 2, 2022.

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the May 2022 core update.
2. The rollout was complete as of June 9, 2022.

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the March 2022 product reviews update.
2. The rollout was complete as of April 6, 2022.

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the page experience update for desktop.
2. The rollout was complete as of March 3, 2022.

What this type of update affects

A confirmed ranking update outside the regular series. What changes differs per update: read Google's notice and explanation.

What to look at: the part of the site or the device type the update is about, according to Google.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the December 2021 product reviews update.
2. The rollout was complete as of December 21, 2021.

What this type of update affects

An update to Google's reviews system. It assesses review content such as product reviews, comparisons and ranked lists, mostly page by page, and rewards in-depth research and first-hand experience. User reviews on product or service pages are not in scope.

What to look at: pages with reviews and comparisons, separately from the rest of the site. Google now improves this system continuously, without separate announcements.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the November 2021 core update.
2. The rollout was complete as of November 30, 2021

What this type of update affects

A broad change to Google's ranking systems, several times a year. Not aimed at specific sites and not a penalty: most sites notice little, some rise or fall because other content is now assessed as more relevant.

What to look at: wait until the rollout has finished, plus another week. Then compare a period before with a period after in Search Console, by page and by query. Recovery after a drop can take months and sometimes only shows after a later core update.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.

What Google announced

1. Released the November 2021 spam update.
2. The rollout was complete as of November 11, 2021.

What this type of update affects

An improvement to Google's automated spam detection, including SpamBrain. Affects sites that violate Google's spam policies: they may rank lower or be removed from results.

What to look at: a drop that starts inside the rollout window and affects many pages at once. After fixing issues, recovery can take months. With link spam, the benefit of spammy links does not come back.

Context by Groen Data, based on Google's documentation. Not a statement about the effect on any specific site.