People-first content
We plan pages around what the searcher is trying to achieve, then add the experience, examples and detail that make them complete, not word-count padding.
- 60updates tracked
- 14core updates
- 18years of change
- 2003earliest entry
Compiled from Search Engine Journal’s Google algorithm history and the update articles it links to. Summaries are written in our own words and each entry links to its source. Last reviewed September 19, 2026.
How core updates work
From announcement to recovery in five steps
Core updates follow a predictable rhythm. Click through the steps to see what to do at each stage.
Announced
Google posts a short notice on the Search Status Dashboard. Recent core updates have often come without a companion blog post or stated goals.
Rolling out
Rollouts usually run one to three weeks, and rankings move around while they do. Changing your site mid-rollout muddies the data.
Completed
Google marks the update complete on the dashboard. Wait about a week after that before analysing anything.
Measure
Compare Search Console performance with the period before the update began. Focus on pages that lost the most positions.
Improve
Ask honestly whether those pages deserve to rank. Improve depth, originality and trust. Recovery is gradual and often lands with a later core update.
Interactive timeline
Every Google update, searchable and filterable
Filter by update family, search by name, or click a year to see how busy it was. Open any card for what it targeted and what to do.
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The third spam update of 2026, applied globally in about two days and 16 hours. Google announced no new policies, though its spam policies now explicitly cover attempts to manipulate generative-AI answers. Recovery can take months.
Who it affected
Sites breaking existing spam policies, including manipulation aimed at AI answers.
What to do
Takeaway: Do not try to game AI answers; earn citations with genuine expertise.
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A short global spam update targeting spam and low-quality search content.
Who it affected
Sites using manipulative tactics.
What to do
Takeaway: Keep policy compliance continuous.
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The second core update of 2026, released with only a short notice and no companion blog post. Google’s stated aim matches earlier core updates.
Who it affected
All industries, no announced target.
What to do
Takeaway: Use pre-May 21 performance as your baseline and avoid content changes during the rollout.
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The first broad core update of 2026, with no announced goals beyond surfacing relevant, satisfying content. Drops do not signal a policy violation, they reflect a wider re-assessment of quality.
Who it affected
Wide-ranging, no single target.
What to do
Takeaway: Wait a full week after the rollout ends before analysing Search Console.
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A very fast spam update that finished in under a day and appeared to have a muted impact.
Who it affected
Sites breaking spam policies.
What to do
Takeaway: Even short spam updates are worth checking against.
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A core update for the Discover feed only: it favours locally relevant content from sites in the reader’s country, cuts sensational or clickbait pages, and lifts in-depth, original, timely content from sites with expertise.
Who it affected
Publishers dependent on Discover traffic, particularly with clickbait or off-topic content.
What to do
Takeaway: Track Discover separately from search; build recognised expertise.
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A slow spam rollout that took 26 days. Google gave no details about which tactics it targeted, only that sites should stay aligned with its spam policies.
Who it affected
Sites near or over the line on spam policies.
What to do
Takeaway: Do not make panic changes during a rollout; compare data afterwards.
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A broad core update across languages, announced without detailed commentary. Google’s aim: surface more relevant, satisfying content.
Who it affected
Every industry and content type, effects immediate or gradual.
What to do
Takeaway: Avoid drastic reactive changes unless you find a specific problem.
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A broad core update applied globally.
Who it affected
General results worldwide.
What to do
Takeaway: Measure against your baseline, then improve weak pages.
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The last spam update of 2024, run across search results.
Who it affected
Spam and low-quality content.
What to do
Takeaway: Regular compliance checks pay off.
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A short core update that followed closely after the November one.
Who it affected
Broad, mixed effects.
What to do
Takeaway: Wait for stability before drawing conclusions.
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Google tightened its site reputation abuse policy and clarified enforcement, with manual actions in place and algorithmic detection planned.
Who it affected
Sites hosting third-party content mainly to exploit their ranking power.
What to do
Takeaway: Even close partnerships must have genuine first-party oversight.
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A routine core refinement rolled out over about three weeks; effects were moderate and varied by site and sector. Google’s advice: wait for completion, compare before and after, and improve quality sustainably.
Who it affected
Some sites saw drops; many did not notice.
What to do
Takeaway: Do not react mid-rollout; analyse afterwards.
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A core update that promoted high-quality, people-first content and demoted low-value SEO-first content.
Who it affected
Sites with content made mainly to rank.
What to do
Takeaway: Original value is the safest ranking strategy.
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A change to demote non-consensual explicit imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes, and make removal requests easier.
Who it affected
Sites publishing or distributing this material.
What to do
Takeaway: Synthetic-content policies are strict and enforced.
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A spam update across multiple languages that targeted spam and low-quality search content.
Who it affected
Pages breaking spam policies.
What to do
Takeaway: Keep policy compliance a permanent habit.
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Google launched AI-generated summaries in U.S. Search, powered by a Gemini model, later expanded to more countries. They answer questions directly and change where clicks come from.
Who it affected
Publishers whose pages answer simple questions that a summary can now cover.
What to do
Takeaway: Structure content around clear questions and answers, and build original expertise worth citing.
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Google started manual actions against “parasite SEO”: third-party pages published on an established site with little or no first-party oversight, purely to manipulate rankings.
Who it affected
Publishers hosting outsourced product-review or coupon sections that lacked original evidence and real involvement.
What to do
Takeaway: You are responsible for everything published under your domain.
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A spam update launched alongside the March core update, backing new spam policies against manipulative tactics.
Who it affected
Scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse and expired-domain abuse.
What to do
Takeaway: Read the new spam policies and audit your site against them.
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A major change: helpful-content signals were folded into the core ranking systems, and Google said it expected to cut unhelpful, unoriginal results by around 40%. It came with three new spam policies (scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse, expired domain abuse).
Who it affected
Mass-produced content, third-party content hosted to borrow a site’s reputation, and repurposed expired domains.
What to do
Takeaway: Original, useful content is now judged inside the core system itself.
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Another page-level pass over review content to reward high-quality, experience-based assessments.
Who it affected
Low-effort review pages.
What to do
Takeaway: Reviews need real substance to compete.
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The fourth core update of 2023, refreshing overall relevance.
Who it affected
Broad, varied effects.
What to do
Takeaway: Sustained quality improvement beats reacting to each update.
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A broad core update that overlapped with the October spam update.
Who it affected
General search results worldwide.
What to do
Takeaway: Separate spam effects from core effects when analysing traffic.
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Improved spam detection worldwide and in more languages via SpamBrain.
Who it affected
Cloaking, hacked, auto-generated and expired-domain spam.
What to do
Takeaway: Stay clear of manipulative tactics in any language.
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Refined how the helpful content system identifies and ranks people-first content.
Who it affected
Sites with unhelpful content mixed in with the good.
What to do
Takeaway: Prune or improve pages that add nothing.
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A broad core update refreshing ranking systems worldwide.
Who it affected
Wide-ranging, no single target.
What to do
Takeaway: Keep quality high everywhere, not just on your best pages.
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Extended the review system beyond products to services, places and more, judging reviews at page level for quality and experience.
Who it affected
Reviews of services, films, apps and businesses without genuine experience behind them.
What to do
Takeaway: The evidence standard now covers all review content.
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A broad core update affecting search relevance globally.
Who it affected
No specific type of site.
What to do
Takeaway: Compare against your baseline and improve weak pages.
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Broadened the product review system to more languages worldwide.
Who it affected
Review content in additional languages with little first-hand evidence.
What to do
Takeaway: Show real testing in every language you publish.
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Used SpamBrain to detect and neutralise unnatural links, both spammy links pointing to sites and links sold or placed to pass ranking credit.
Who it affected
Sites whose rankings depended on artificial links, which lost that value.
What to do
Takeaway: Links that were never earned stop counting.
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Expanded the helpful content system to all languages and refined it.
Who it affected
Unhelpful, search-first content in every language.
What to do
Takeaway: People-first content standards apply everywhere.
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A worldwide spam update improving the automated systems that detect deceptive, malware-spreading and phishing pages.
Who it affected
Spam sites and sites hacked to serve hidden spam.
What to do
Takeaway: Follow Google Search Essentials and keep your site secure.
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A further round of improving how high-quality product reviews are identified.
Who it affected
Thin or affiliate-only product pages.
What to do
Takeaway: Keep adding first-hand detail and comparisons.
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A broad core update that reshuffled results worldwide.
Who it affected
Sites of all kinds; no single target.
What to do
Takeaway: Improve overall content quality rather than chasing one signal.
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Introduced a site-wide, machine-learning signal that rewards people-first content and demotes pages written mainly to attract search traffic. It began with English-language results and expanded later.
Who it affected
Writers covering topics outside their expertise, clickbait, padded pages and content chosen only because it might attract traffic.
What to do
Takeaway: Create content for your audience first; be honest about what you know.
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Refined how product reviews are ranked, especially for e-commerce and affiliate publishers.
Who it affected
Review content lacking evidence of first-hand experience.
What to do
Takeaway: Depth and original evidence beat volume.
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A broad core update refreshing how Google’s ranking systems assess relevance and quality.
Who it affected
All industries and content types; effects varied widely between sites.
What to do
Takeaway: Judge success against your pre-update baseline once the rollout ends.
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Improved recognition of high-quality product reviews across several weeks: first-hand usage, original photos and audio, and comparisons beyond the manufacturer’s claims.
Who it affected
Reviews that summarised other sources without real testing.
What to do
Takeaway: Prove you used the product, and explain who it suits and why.
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Extended page-experience signals to desktop search over about five weeks: Core Web Vitals, HTTPS and no intrusive interstitials (mobile-friendliness is not part of the desktop signal).
Who it affected
Desktop pages with poor loading, responsiveness or stability.
What to do
Takeaway: Use the Page Experience report in Search Console and fix the slow pages first.
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Rolled Core Web Vitals, HTTPS and the absence of intrusive interstitials into ranking signals for mobile search.
Who it affected
Slow, unstable or insecure pages.
What to do
Takeaway: Speed, stability and security are ranking hygiene.
Added from Google’s own public announcement (not in SEJ’s list) -
A language-understanding model that helps Google interpret the context and relationships between words, which matters most for longer, conversational queries.
Who it affected
Not a penalty; it improves matching of queries to pages that answer them naturally.
What to do
Takeaway: Write clearly and naturally for the question being asked.
Added from Google’s own public announcement (not in SEJ’s list) -
A broad core update that had an especially visible effect on health, medical and other “your money or your life” sites, and pushed expertise, authority and trust (E-A-T, now E-E-A-T) into the spotlight.
Who it affected
Sites giving high-stakes advice without clear expertise or trust signals.
What to do
Takeaway: On sensitive topics, show who is behind the advice and why they can be trusted.
Added from Google’s own public announcement (not in SEJ’s list) -
Hit low-value sites, often affiliate-driven, that paired thin content with heavy advertising and interstitials.
Who it affected
Pages where ads outweigh the useful content, or that use deceptive ad placements.
What to do
Takeaway: Align with the quality rater guidelines (expertise, authoritativeness, trust) and reduce ad clutter.
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A machine-learning system, announced in October 2015 (live earlier that year), that helps interpret unfamiliar queries by understanding entities and intent, not just literal words.
Who it affected
It affects how results are matched to queries in general rather than penalising sites.
What to do
Takeaway: Serve user intent and make entities and context clear.
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Unannounced quality changes starting May 2015, with further waves in 2016 and 2017, targeting thin content, clickbait and intrusive ads.
Who it affected
Content farms, clickbait pages, and user-generated sites without quality controls.
What to do
Takeaway: Audit your site as a visitor would and fix what annoys them.
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A mobile-friendliness ranking signal for mobile searches, announced in February 2015 and strengthened in May 2016. It set the stage for mobile-first indexing.
Who it affected
Pages that were not usable on phones lost visibility in mobile results.
What to do
Takeaway: Design for phones first.
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Tied local results more closely to standard web-ranking signals and shrank the local pack to about three listings.
Who it affected
Local businesses with a thin web presence relying only on their listing.
What to do
Takeaway: Local SEO needs real website authority, not just a profile.
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A rewrite of Google’s core search algorithm (live in August, announced in September 2013) so it could understand what a query means, especially conversational ones, rather than matching words one by one.
Who it affected
Sites that relied on thousands of near-identical long-tail keyword variations lost their edge; most quality sites barely noticed.
What to do
Takeaway: Write about topics and intent, not keyword permutations.
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A series of updates (versions 1.0–3.0) aimed at spammy queries and sites in high-risk niches such as loans, gambling, pharmaceuticals and adult content.
Who it affected
Sites in spam-prone industries using paid links, keyword stuffing and generated content.
What to do
Takeaway: Your site has to be worthy of ranking on its merits.
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Reduced the ranking advantage of keyword-in-domain sites that had little quality content behind them.
Who it affected
Low-quality exact-match domains, not every domain that happened to contain a keyword.
What to do
Takeaway: A keyword domain cannot stand in for real content and authority.
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A webspam update aimed at manipulative link building. It went through several refreshes and became part of the core algorithm, running in real time, in September 2016 (Penguin 4.0), when it shifted from penalising to devaluing bad links.
Who it affected
Sites with paid links, link exchanges, keyword-stuffed anchors and other unnatural link patterns.
What to do
Takeaway: Earn links; do not manufacture them.
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Brought local intent into ordinary organic results, so location-relevant pages could surface even without a Places listing.
Who it affected
Local businesses gained visibility against big national brands.
What to do
Takeaway: Location-specific pages became a real ranking asset.
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Started demoting pages that crammed ads above the fold so visitors had to scroll to reach the actual content; refreshed several times up to 2016.
Who it affected
Ad-heavy sites that put monetisation ahead of the visitor.
What to do
Takeaway: Let people see real content immediately.
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Made recency a ranking factor for queries that deserve up-to-date answers such as news, recurring events and fast-changing topics, roughly a third of searches.
Who it affected
Sites that were slow to publish on time-sensitive topics.
What to do
Takeaway: Update content where the topic genuinely changes; do not fake dates on evergreen pages.
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A quality filter aimed at content farms and thin, duplicated or ad-stuffed pages. It ran as a separate filter for years and was folded into the core ranking algorithm in January 2016.
Who it affected
Sites with shallow, unoriginal content, inflated word counts, excessive ads and weak editorial standards.
What to do
Takeaway: Quality is judged across a whole site, so weak pages can drag good ones down.
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A rebuilt indexing system (announced August 2009, live June 2010) that let Google crawl and store content far more quickly, giving noticeably fresher results.
Who it affected
Not a penalty: it levelled the field for fresh content and made future features possible.
What to do
Takeaway: Fast indexing rewards sites that publish and update regularly.
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Established brands started to win more of the broad, competitive queries.
Who it affected
Smaller affiliate and resource sites that had ranked on aggressive optimisation alone.
What to do
Takeaway: Brand trust and a real online presence began to outweigh pure SEO tricks.
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An infrastructure overhaul that changed how Google handled URL canonicalisation and redirects, and filtered low-trust links.
Who it affected
Sites with messy URLs, redirect chains, or link profiles built on paid and reciprocal links.
What to do
Takeaway: Clean site architecture and trustworthy links help crawling as well as ranking.
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A multi-stage update aimed at low-quality link building.
Who it affected
Sites relying on bought sitewide links, reciprocal exchanges with unrelated sites and link farms.
What to do
Takeaway: Artificial link schemes were declared unwelcome long before Penguin.
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One of the first big spam clean-ups. Google began analysing link and anchor-text patterns, and rankings were shaken up just before the holiday shopping season.
Who it affected
Many ordinary retailers and affiliates lost rankings overnight, along with the sites that had been over-optimised.
What to do
Takeaway: Links have to look natural; patterns that look engineered eventually get noticed.
No updates match those filters.
Update finder
Which Google updates should worry your site?
Tick everything that describes your website. We’ll show the update families most relevant to you, the latest updates in each, and where to start.
Your personalised results will appear here as you tick the boxes.
Core update readiness
How well does your site match what Google rewards?
16 checks drawn from what the updates above have rewarded and punished. Tick what is true for your site. Your answers stay in this browser.
Our approach
How Rizen Digital builds for core updates
Core updates keep rewarding the same things. That is how we plan every SEO and web project.
Trust you can see
Named authors, clear business details, honest reviews and cited facts. E-E-A-T signals are built into templates so every page carries them.
Fast, secure, mobile-first
HTTPS, responsive design and Core Web Vitals are treated as launch requirements, and re-tested after every release.
Clean, earned links
No link schemes and no unsupervised third-party content on your domain. Authority comes from work worth referencing.
Structured and AI-ready
Clear headings, direct answers and structured data help search engines and AI summaries understand and cite your pages.
Measure, don’t panic
We set baselines, watch Search Console through every rollout, and only act once the data shows what actually changed.
Recovery playbook
What to do when rankings move
If you were hit by a core update
Do not panic and do not rewrite everything at once.
- Confirm timing: check your traffic drop against the dates in the timeline, and make sure the rollout has finished.
- Segment in Search Console by page, query and country to see whether the drop is site-wide or concentrated.
- Review the top pages that lost ground with fresh eyes: compare each against the pages now ranking above it.
- Prioritise substantive improvements: depth, originality, first-hand experience, clearer authorship and sourcing.
- Fix technical problems you find, but do not expect technical tweaks alone to reverse a quality re-assessment.
- Track progress over months; the next core update is when improvements are usually reassessed.
If you were hit by a spam update
Spam actions are about policy violations, so the fix is specific.
- Read the current spam policies and list any tactic on your site that matches.
- Remove scaled, auto-generated, doorway, hidden or manipulative content and links.
- Check for hacked pages or injected links with a security scan and Search Console’s security report.
- Recovery can take months because the automated systems need time to see the change.
If you hosted third-party content
Site reputation abuse is judged on oversight, not on who wrote the words.
- Audit every section written by partners, sponsors or guests.
- Add real editorial review or remove the section.
- Noindex pages that exist only to borrow your domain’s ranking power.
If you rely on AI answers or Discover
These features reward citeable, original, expert content.
- Structure pages so key questions have short, direct answers followed by depth.
- Build topical depth and clear author expertise.
- Monitor Discover and search separately in Search Console.
Google’s people-first self-check
Ask these about your important pages. Every honest “no” is an improvement to make.
- Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?
- Does it give a substantial, complete and comprehensive description of the topic?
- Would you trust it, and does it show who created it and why?
- Would someone reading it feel they learned enough to reach their goal?
- Is it written by someone with real, demonstrable knowledge of the subject?
- Does the page avoid excessive ads, pop-ups and clutter that distract from the content?
- Was it made mainly to help people, rather than to attract search engine traffic?
- Is it something you would bookmark, share with a friend or recommend?
FAQs
Google core updates: common questions
What is a Google core update?
A core update is a broad change to Google’s main ranking systems, released several times a year. It is not aimed at a specific tactic or site type. It re-assesses how content is judged for relevance and quality across the whole web, so results shift for many sites.
How is a core update different from a spam update?
A core update reassesses quality and relevance in general, so a drop does not mean you broke a rule. A spam update targets policy violations, such as scaled content, link schemes or hidden spam, and recovery depends on fixing the specific violation.
How long does a core update take to roll out?
Google typically says a core update may take up to two weeks. Some finish faster and some run for several weeks. Wait until Google marks it complete and then a further week before analysing your data.
Should I change my site while an update is rolling out?
Usually no. Rankings move around during a rollout, and changing content at the same time makes it hard to know what caused what. Wait until it finishes, compare with your baseline, then improve.
How do I recover from a core update drop?
There is no quick fix. Improve the quality, depth, originality and trustworthiness of the pages that lost visibility, and make it clear who created the content. Improvements are typically reassessed over weeks or months, often with a later core update.
What is E-E-A-T and is it a ranking factor?
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust. It comes from Google’s quality rater guidelines and describes what good content looks like. It is not a single score, but many ranking signals aim to reward pages that demonstrate it.
How do I make a site resilient to Google updates?
Build for the visitor: satisfy search intent completely, show real experience and clear authorship, keep the site fast and secure, earn links naturally, avoid scaled or manipulative content, and monitor Search Console so you can spot trends early.
Rankings moved after an update?
Our team reviews your traffic, content and technical health against what recent updates reward, and gives you a clear, prioritised plan.