Google Algorithm Updates: Core Update Timeline 2011–2026

Tomasz Stopka · SEO since 2008

9 October 2026

A Google algorithm update is a change to the systems that decide which pages Google Search shows, and in what order. Google makes thousands of small changes a year without announcing them, but the bigger ones – core updates, spam updates or policy changes – it confirms on the Google Search Status Dashboard or the Google Search Central blog. If your traffic has suddenly dropped or jumped, the first step is to check whether the date lines up with one of the updates in the timeline below.

Last updated: 13 October 2026. The timeline covers every ranking update confirmed by Google from March 2025 up to the September 2026 Spam Update (completed on 8 October 2026) – Google hasn’t announced another one since – plus the most important updates from earlier years, all the way back to Panda in 2011. If you’re just getting started with SEO, begin with my explanation of what SEO is.

Types of Google algorithm updates

Not every ‘Google update’ means the same thing. It’s worth telling four types apart, because each one is diagnosed differently:

Type	What changes	How often	Where to check
Core update	A broad change to the core ranking systems – a reassessment of the quality and relevance of content across the whole web.	Big ones: 2–4 times a year; smaller ones – continuously, without announcements.	Search Status Dashboard
Spam update	An improvement to the automated spam detection systems (including SpamBrain) – it hits sites that break the spam policies.	Several times a year (four so far in 2026).	Search Status Dashboard
Updates to other products	Changes affecting, for example, only Google Discover (like the February 2026 Discover Core Update).	Rarely.	Search Status Dashboard
Policy changes	A new or changed policy (e.g. back button hijacking, the site reputation policy in the EEA). This isn’t an algorithm rollout, but a change to what you can be penalised for.	Several times a year.	Google Search Central blog and changelog

An important addition from December 2025: Google added to its core updates documentation that, besides the big, announced updates, it also continuously rolls out smaller core updates that it doesn’t announce, because they aren’t widely noticeable. That’s good news for you: if you improve your site, you don’t always have to wait for the next big update to see the effect.

On the other hand, rank-tracking tools (e.g. MozCast, Semrush Sensor) regularly show big fluctuations on days when Google hasn’t announced anything. In the timeline I mark cases like these as unconfirmed – they may be tests, smaller updates or delayed effects of bigger changes. Don’t treat them as hard dates.

Google algorithm update timeline (2011–2026)

Below are the most important Google algorithm updates, starting with the latest. For each one I give the type, the rollout dates, what the industry observed and what to do about it on your own site. I checked the 2025 and 2026 dates directly on the Search Status Dashboard (Pacific Time).

In short – confirmed ranking updates from March 2025 to date (according to the Google Search Status Dashboard; policy changes according to the Google Search Central blog):

September 2026 Spam Update – 24 September – 8 October 2026
Site Reputation Abuse policy update (EEA) – in force since 30 August 2026
August 2026 Spam Update – 18–21 August 2026
June 2026 Spam Update – 24–26 June 2026
Back button hijacking – new spam policy – enforced since 15 June 2026
May 2026 Core Update – 21 May – 2 June 2026
March 2026 Core Update – 27 March – 8 April 2026
March 2026 Spam Update – 24–25 March 2026
February 2026 Discover Core Update – 5–27 February 2026
December 2025 Core Update – 11–29 December 2025
August 2025 Spam Update – 26 August – 22 September 2025
June 2025 Core Update – 30 June – 17 July 2025
March 2025 Core Update – 13–27 March 2025

September 2026 Spam Update

Type: spam update (global, all languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 24 September 2026 and finished on 8 October 2026 (13 days and 16 hours). It’s the longest spam update of 2026 – the previous ones lasted from just under 20 hours to just under 3 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: Search Engine Roundtable noted three waves of changes: 25–27 September, 30 September and 4–6 October. According to industry reports, it was a ‘regular’ spam update, not related to link spam. Google said the rollout would take ‘up to two weeks’ and it finished within that time.
Recommendations for your website: If you see drops on these days, compare your site against Google’s spam policies (scaled content abuse, doorway abuse, cloaking, expired domain abuse). Recovering visibility after a spam update usually takes months, because Google’s systems need to ‘see’ that the site is following the rules.

Site Reputation Abuse policy update in the EEA (August 2026)

Type: other – policy change (manual actions)
Date and rollout period: Announced on 28 August 2026, in force since 30 August 2026. This isn’t an algorithm rollout, just a change in how the policy is enforced.
Impact on the SEO industry: After talks with the European Commission (DMA), Google changed the consequences of manual actions for site reputation abuse (‘parasite SEO’): outside the European Economic Area they lower the visibility of the affected section of the site, whereas for users in the EEA – including Poland, where I work – the manual penalty isn’t applied, and the affected section may be separated from the rest of the site in Google’s systems and, over time, rank independently. This follows directly on from the Site Reputation Abuse entries from 2024 (further down the timeline).
Recommendations for your website: If you publish partner or sponsored content in a separate section of your site, don’t treat this as a ‘loophole’ – the section may still lose the ranking strength it gets from the rest of the domain. Manual action notifications still arrive in Google Search Console.

August 2026 Spam Update

Type: spam update (global, all languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 18 August 2026 and finished on 21 August 2026 (2 days and 16 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: The third spam update of 2026. Google didn’t announce any new policies (a ‘normal’ spam update that doesn’t target link spam). Reactions in the industry were mixed: some site owners reported sharp drops in traffic, others a rebound after earlier, mistaken drops.
Recommendations for your website: Review your site against the current spam policies; don’t go looking for a ‘new’ factor, because Google hasn’t introduced one.

June 2026 Spam Update

Type: spam update (global, all languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 24 June 2026 and finished on 26 June 2026 (2 days and 1 hour).
Impact on the SEO industry: Short but noticeable – forums saw reports of traffic drops of several dozen per cent, including from site owners who saw no spam on their own sites. According to Search Engine Roundtable, it didn’t target link spam or the site reputation abuse policy.
Recommendations for your website: Before you change anything, check in GSC whether the drop started exactly on 24–26 June and which URLs it affects. Recovering visibility after a spam update can take many months.

Back Button Hijacking – new spam policy (June 2026)

Type: other – new spam policy (malicious practices)
Date and rollout period: Announced on 13 April 2026, enforced since 15 June 2026.
Impact on the SEO industry: Google declared ‘back button hijacking’ (manipulating the browser history so that users can’t go back to the previous page and land, for example, on ads or recommendations instead) an explicit violation of the ‘malicious practices’ policy. Sites using this technique may get a manual action or an automatic ranking demotion.
Recommendations for your website: Check your ad scripts and third-party libraries – Google says explicitly that this behaviour is sometimes injected by ad platforms rather than by the site itself.

May 2026 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 21 May 2026 and finished on 2 June 2026 (11 days and 21 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: The second core update of 2026 and – according to Search Engine Roundtable’s observations – noticeably stronger than the March one. Volatility in monitoring tools came back in waves: the weekend after the start, the following weekend and again on 2 June, just before completion was announced.
Recommendations for your website: The first meaningful comparison in GSC: the week after 2 June (i.e. from around 9 June) set against the week before 21 May. See the ‘What to do after a core update’ section below.

March 2026 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 27 March 2026 and finished on 8 April 2026 (12 days and 4 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: The first core update of 2026, released three days after the March spam update. Opinions were divided – Glenn Gabe rated it weaker than the ‘huge’ December 2025 update, although individual sites saw big movements.
Recommendations for your website: Only analyse the results after 8 April, and separate the effect of the core update from the March spam update (24–25 March) – the dates are very close together.

March 2026 Spam Update

Type: spam update (global, all languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 24 March 2026 and finished on 25 March 2026 (19 hours and 30 minutes) – the shortest spam update rollout in the history of the Status Dashboard.
Impact on the SEO industry: Contrary to the industry’s expectations (people were counting on a ‘clean-up’ of listicles and AI-rewritten content), the update passed largely unnoticed – Search Engine Journal described the industry’s reaction as a ‘collective shrug’.
Recommendations for your website: If you see a drop exactly on 24–25 March rather than from 27 March, the spam update is a more likely cause than the core update.

February 2026 Discover Core Update

Type: core update – Google Discover only (not search results)
Date and rollout period: Started on 5 February 2026 and finished on 27 February 2026 (21 days and 17 hours). At launch it covered only English-language users in the US; Google announced an expansion to all countries and languages ‘in the coming months’.
Impact on the SEO industry: The first core update dedicated exclusively to Discover. According to Google, it’s meant to show more local content from sites in the user’s country, reduce sensationalism and clickbait, and promote in-depth, original and timely content from sites with expertise in a given topic – assessed topic by topic rather than for the whole domain.
Recommendations for your website: If Discover traffic matters to you, keep your titles free of clickbait and write on topics where the site has real expertise. You can check changes in Discover in the separate Discover report in Google Search Console.

December 2025 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 11 December 2025 and finished on 29 December 2025 (18 days and 2 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: The third and last core update of 2025. Tools recorded the biggest fluctuations on 13 and 20 December; publishers reported extreme cases – from losing over 90% of their traffic (including dropping out of Discover and Google News) to gains. The holiday season made it hard to assess the impact on traffic.
Recommendations for your website: With December updates, compare rankings and impressions rather than clicks alone – holiday seasonality heavily distorts traffic.

August 2025 Spam Update

Type: spam update (global, all languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 26 August 2025 and finished on 22 September 2025 (26 days and 15 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: The effects were visible within 24 hours of the start. Drops mainly hit programmatic pages, doorway pages and mass-rewritten content; at the same time, some sites penalised by earlier spam updates regained visibility.
Recommendations for your website: If you generate pages at scale (e.g. hundreds of ‘service + city’ pages), check whether each one adds unique value or is just a template with the phrase swapped out.

June 2025 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 30 June 2025 and finished on 17 July 2025 (16 days and 18 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: High volatility throughout the rollout and – unusually – reports of partial recoveries by sites hit by the September 2023 Helpful Content Update (first signs around 6–10 July). Not all sites recovered, and the fluctuations continued for a few days after completion.
Recommendations for your website: If your site lost out after the HCU in 2023 and has genuinely improved its content since then, this update shows that a recovery is possible. It often comes with the next big core update, but – as Google added in December 2025 – it can also come with smaller, unannounced updates.

March 2025 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 13 March 2025 and finished on 27 March 2025 (13 days and 21 hours).
Impact on the SEO industry: This was the first core update of 2025. MozCast recorded a record-high temperature of 130.1°F on 20 March, with high volatility persisting for most of the month. The industry saw significant fluctuations, particularly in the health and finance sectors. Google stressed that the update focuses on ‘surfacing relevant, satisfying content from all types of sites’ and on ‘promoting content from creators’.
Recommendations for your website: Google consistently stresses that there are no specific ‘fixes’ for core updates. The key is to focus on content quality that delivers unique value, demonstrates expertise and answers users’ questions comprehensively. It’s also important to monitor performance metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings and click-through rates (CTR), and to review Google’s content quality guidelines regularly. The effect of your improvements may show up after a few days or only after several months – sometimes with the next big core update, sometimes with a smaller, unannounced one.

Unnamed Update (March 2025)

Date and rollout period: 5 March 2025 (unconfirmed). MozCast registered ranking fluctuations at 121.7°F, a week before the official start of the March Core Update.
Impact on the SEO industry: High volatility continued right up to the start of the official update.
Recommendations for your website: With unconfirmed fluctuations, the most important thing is to avoid panic and quick, ill-considered changes. Focus on the fundamentals: high-quality content and a good user experience (UX).

Unnamed Update (February 2025)

Date and rollout period: 19 February 2025 (unconfirmed). MozCast hit 125.8°F, and other tracking tools also showed spikes in ranking volatility.
Impact on the SEO industry: Despite the high volatility, Google didn’t confirm any update.
Recommendations for your website: As above, keep working on the quality and usefulness of your site.

December 2024 Spam Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 19 December 2024 and lasted 7 days and 2 hours.
Impact on the SEO industry: Rolled out right after the December Core Update; MozCast hit 123.9°F. Because of the holiday season, the industry recommended focusing on rankings rather than traffic to assess the impact.
Recommendations for your website: This update targeted spam. Make sure your site doesn’t use manipulative tactics such as buying links, mass-generating content purely for rankings (even AI-generated) or sneaky redirects. Audit your site for spam regularly and get rid of it.

December 2024 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 12 December 2024 and lasted 6 days and 4 hours.
Impact on the SEO industry: A short core update that surprised the industry by arriving straight after the November update. Google explained that ‘we have different core systems we’re always improving’. MozCast hit 127.0°F.
Recommendations for your website: This update confirms the trend towards more frequent Google updates. Continuously optimising your site in line with Google’s guidelines is key.

November 2024 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 11 November 2024 and lasted 23 days and 13 hours.
Impact on the SEO industry: A long update that spanned Thanksgiving in the US, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which made it harder to analyse its impact.
Recommendations for your website: As with other core updates, focus on the quality and usefulness of your content for users.

Unnamed Update (November 2024)

Date and rollout period: 5 November 2024 (unconfirmed). MozCast hit 120.7°F on US Election Day.
Impact on the SEO industry: Uncertainty as to whether it was a Google update or the result of news cycle dynamics.
Recommendations for your website: Analyse the context of the changes – whether the fluctuations may be linked to external events or are genuinely down to the algorithm.

Site Reputation Abuse #2

Date and rollout period: 25 September 2024 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google expanded manual actions against site reputation abuse, hitting third-party content hosted on big brands’ sites.
Recommendations for your website: Avoid publishing low-quality content on subdomains or subfolders of reputable sites when its only purpose is to manipulate rankings.

August 2024 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 15 August 2024 and lasted 19 days and 4 hours.
Impact on the SEO industry: It overlapped with a ranking issue reported by Google. Google continued its emphasis on ‘surfacing the best-quality results’ and ‘content from creators’.
Recommendations for your website: Strengthen your content strategy by promoting authentic perspectives and building your authors’ authority.

Rankings Issue (August 2024)

Date and rollout period: 15 August 2024 (confirmed). It lasted about five days.
Impact on the SEO industry: The Google Search Status Dashboard reported an ‘ongoing issue’ with rankings. MozCast recorded a record 149.1°F.
Recommendations for your website: Remember that not all fluctuations are algorithm updates; sometimes they’re technical glitches on Google’s side. It’s worth keeping an eye on the Google Search Status Dashboard.

AI Overviews Expansion (August 2024)

Date and rollout period: 15 August 2024 (unconfirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: AI Overviews started appearing in incognito searches and for logged-out users.
Recommendations for your website: Understanding how AI Overviews affect CTR and visibility is becoming more and more important. Focus on providing concise, authoritative answers that can be used in AI Overviews.

June 2024 Spam Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 20 June 2024 and lasted 7 days and 1 hour.
Impact on the SEO industry: A spam update that probably refreshed SpamBrain’s data. It targeted automatically generated content (including AI content), link buying and thin/duplicate content.
Recommendations for your website: Steer well clear of mass-generating content (even with AI) if it isn’t valuable to users. Google isn’t against AI, but it is against abusing it to manipulate rankings.

AI Overviews Rollout (May 2024)

Date and rollout period: 14 May 2024 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: AI Overviews (formerly SGE) rolled out to all logged-in users in the US. Reactions were mixed.
Recommendations for your website: This is a signal that the future of search includes AI. Optimise your content so that it’s easy for AI to understand and summarise, which may increase your chances of appearing in SGE.

Site Reputation Abuse Penalty (May 2024)

Date and rollout period: 6 May 2024 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google took action against sites using their reputation to promote content of little relevance (e.g. coupon directories). Initially these were manual actions.
Recommendations for your website: Make sure all the content on your site, including content generated by users or third parties, is high-quality and relevant.

March 2024 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 5 March 2024 and lasted 45 days. It was an unprecedentedly long update.
Impact on the SEO industry: It integrated the Helpful Content Updates (HCU) into the core algorithm. Google said it would reduce unhelpful content by 40%. MozCast hit 120.0°F. Many sites were penalised, some by complete removal from the index.
Recommendations for your website: Focus on creating ‘people-first’ content, i.e. for people rather than for algorithms. It’s advisable to remove ‘unhelpful content’ – thin, weak, copied or mass-generated AI content.

March 2024 Spam Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 5 March 2024 and lasted about 15 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: Running in parallel with the March Core Update, it targeted scaled content abuse and expired domain abuse.
Recommendations for your website: Avoid buying expired domains with a good reputation to build low-quality sites on them. Don’t generate large numbers of pages solely to manipulate rankings.

Indexing Bug(s) (February 2024)

Date and rollout period: Around 1 February 2024; it lasted about 7 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: Google confirmed an indexing bug. MozCast hit 111.6°F.
Recommendations for your website: Monitor Google Search Console for indexing problems.

Ranking Bug (January 2024)

Date and rollout period: 22 January 2024 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google confirmed a bug that made pages disappear from the rankings.
Recommendations for your website: Be aware that ranking fluctuations can be caused by Google’s own bugs, not just by updates.

November 2023 Reviews Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 8 November 2023 and lasted almost a month.
Impact on the SEO industry: The last announced reviews update. MozCast hit 115.8°F.
Recommendations for your website: Focus on creating in-depth, valuable reviews of products, services or places that go beyond the basic information.

November 2023 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 2 November 2023 and lasted 25 days and 21 hours.
Impact on the SEO industry: Rolled out less than a month after the previous core update. Google confirmed that it affected a ‘different core system’, which confirms the existence of multiple ‘core’ algorithms.
Recommendations for your website: This points to the complexity of the algorithm. Maintain high quality in every aspect of your site.

October 2023 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 5 October 2023 and lasted 13 days and 23 hours.
Impact on the SEO industry: It overlapped with the October spam update, which made analysis harder.
Recommendations for your website: With overlapping updates, focus on general SEO best practice – and be patient.

October 2023 Spam Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 4 October 2023 and lasted about two weeks.
Impact on the SEO industry: It improved spam detection in non-English-speaking markets.
Recommendations for your website: Make sure your site doesn’t engage in any spammy practices, whatever the language.

September 2023 Helpful Content Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 14 September 2023 and lasted 13 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: Considered stronger than previous HCUs, probably in connection with AI-generated content.
Recommendations for your website: Create ‘people-first’ content that’s genuinely helpful and valuable to users. Avoid content mass-produced purely for SEO, especially AI-generated content without human review.

August 2023 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 22 August 2023 and lasted 16 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: The second core update of 2023. MozCast hit 122.7°F.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates – focus on quality, usefulness and E-E-A-T.

Search Generative Experience (SGE) (May 2023)

Date and rollout period: 25 May 2023 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google officially launched SGE, adding ‘AI’ results (powered by Google Bard) at the top of some searches. Initially only for opt-in users.
Recommendations for your website: This is a glimpse of the future of search. Optimise your content so that it’s easy for AI to understand and summarise, which may increase your chances of appearing in SGE.

April 2023 Reviews Update

Type: reviews update
Date and rollout period: Started on 12 April 2023 and lasted until 25 April 2023 (13 days, 2 hours, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: The ‘product reviews’ system was renamed ‘reviews’, and from this update onwards it covers reviews of products, services and other things. It assesses the site’s own content (articles, blog posts, rankings), not user reviews published on product pages. According to Google’s documentation, the system currently works in 11 languages, including Polish.
Recommendations for your website: Create in-depth reviews based on your own research and experience, whether they cover a product, a service or, say, a place.

March 2023 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 15 March 2023 and lasted 13 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: MozCast hit 108.7°F.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

February 2023 Product Reviews Update

Type: product reviews update (11 languages, including Polish)
Date and rollout period: Started on 21 February 2023 and lasted until 7 March 2023 (14 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: The first product reviews update to cover languages other than English – Polish results included. According to Google, it applied globally to 11 languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese and Polish. Earlier reviews updates applied only to English-language content.
Recommendations for your website: Sites with product reviews, comparisons and rankings – including Polish ones – should show their own tests and experience instead of rewriting the manufacturer’s specifications.

December 2022 Link Spam Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 14 December 2022 and lasted almost a month.
Impact on the SEO industry: It targeted link spam using the ‘SpamBrain’ AI system. It overlapped with the December HCU.
Recommendations for your website: Audit your link profile regularly and use the Disavow Tool to reject toxic links. Focus on building natural, high-quality links.

December 2022 Helpful Content Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 5 December 2022 and lasted over a month.
Impact on the SEO industry: It overlapped with the Link Spam Update, which made analysis harder.
Recommendations for your website: Keep strengthening your ‘people-first’ content.

October 2022 Spam Update

Type: spam update (global, all languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 19 October 2022 and lasted until 21 October 2022 (2 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: A global anti-spam update covering all languages, rolled out in under 48 hours.
Recommendations for your website: Follow Google’s spam policies. Sites that violate them may drop in the results or disappear from them completely.

September 2022 Product Reviews Update

Type: product reviews update (English-language product reviews)
Date and rollout period: Started on 20 September 2022 and lasted until 26 September 2022 (6 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: The fifth product reviews update, for English-language reviews. Released before the September 2022 Core Update had finished; both ended on 26 September, which made it hard to separate their effects.
Recommendations for your website: Publish original, in-depth reviews based on your own experience with the product.

September 2022 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 12 September 2022 and lasted 14 days (according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: A broad core algorithm update released just after the first Helpful Content Update and a week before the September Product Reviews Update, which made it hard to attribute changes to a specific update.
Recommendations for your website: The standard approach for any core update: assess the quality of the whole site, not individual pages.

Helpful Content Update (August 2022)

Date and rollout period: Started on 25 August 2022 and lasted two weeks.
Impact on the SEO industry: It was meant to reward ‘people-first’ content and devalue content written mainly for SEO. Initially there were no clear signs of a broad impact.
Recommendations for your website: It heralded a trend that fully revealed itself in the March 2024 Core Update. Create content that genuinely meets users’ needs.

July 2022 Product Reviews Update

Type: product reviews update (English-language product reviews)
Date and rollout period: Started on 27 July 2022 and lasted until 2 August 2022 (6 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: The fourth product reviews update, still only for English-language content. The rollout finished much faster than the 2–3 weeks Google had announced.
Recommendations for your website: Go for in-depth analysis and original research instead of short round-ups of many products.

May 2022 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 25 May 2022 and lasted about 2 weeks.
Impact on the SEO industry: A standard core update, with no specific details from Google.
Recommendations for your website: Focus on overall quality and usefulness.

March 2022 Product Reviews Update

Type: product reviews update (English-language product reviews)
Date and rollout period: Started on 23 March 2022 and lasted until 6 April 2022 (14 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: The third update to the product reviews system. According to Google, it could affect the rankings of English-language product reviews on many sites. Google clarified that reviews updates apply to all forms of reviews, including product rankings and comparisons.
Recommendations for your website: If you recommend a product as ‘the best’, explain why and show evidence from your own tests (e.g. measurement results, original photos).

Page Experience Update (Desktop)

Date and rollout period: Started on 22 February 2022 and lasted until 3 March.
Impact on the SEO industry: The Page Experience update extended to desktop results.
Recommendations for your website: Optimise Core Web Vitals (today: LCP, INP, CLS) for the desktop version of your site as well as for mobile devices.

Product Reviews Update (December 2021)

Date and rollout period: Started on 1 December 2021 and lasted three weeks.
Impact on the SEO industry: It aimed to reward high-quality product reviews.
Recommendations for your website: Provide in-depth, original reviews that go beyond the manufacturer’s specifications.

November 2021 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 17 November 2021 and lasted 13 days.
Impact on the SEO industry: It caused controversy in the SEO industry because it overlapped with Black Friday.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

November 2021 Spam Update

Type: spam update
Date and rollout period: Started on 3 November 2021 and lasted until 11 November 2021 (about 8 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: A general anti-spam update, released two weeks before the November 2021 Core Update. Google didn’t say what kind of spam it targeted (links, content or other techniques).
Recommendations for your website: Follow Google’s spam policies.

July 2021 Link Spam Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 28 July 2021 and lasted 2–4 weeks.
Impact on the SEO industry: A broad link algorithm update across many languages.
Recommendations for your website: It reinforces the emphasis on link quality.

July 2021 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 1 July 2021 and lasted until 12 July.
Impact on the SEO industry: A continuation of the June core update.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

Page Experience Update (Mobile)

Date and rollout period: Started on 15 June 2021 and lasted until August.
Impact on the SEO industry: It introduced Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor for mobile results.
Recommendations for your website: Optimise your site for loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability on mobile devices.

June 2021 Core Update

Date and rollout period: Started on 2 June 2021 and lasted until 12 June.
Impact on the SEO industry: An unprecedented announcement of two core updates (June and July) at once.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

Product Reviews Update (April 2021)

Date and rollout period: Started on 8 April 2021.
Impact on the SEO industry: It aimed to reward in-depth reviews at the expense of ‘thin’ and spammy affiliate content.
Recommendations for your website: Create valuable, original reviews.

Passage Indexing (February 2021)

Date and rollout period: 10 February 2021 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google started indexing and ranking individual passages of text, not just whole pages. It was expected to affect 7% of queries.
Recommendations for your website: Structure your content into logical sections with clear headings so that Google can easily identify the key passages.

December 2020 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 3 December 2020 and finished on 16 December 2020 (about 13 days). The third core update of 2020, released just before the Christmas period.
Impact on the SEO industry: A fast rollout; MozCast hit 112°F.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

May 2020 Core Update

Type: core update (global)
Date and rollout period: Started on 4 May 2020 and lasted until 18 May 2020 (14 days, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard).
Impact on the SEO industry: The second core update of 2020, released during the COVID-19 pandemic. Google announced a rollout within 1–2 weeks, and SEO forums were already seeing very large ranking fluctuations in the first few days, including in the finance and medical sectors.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

January 2020 Core Update

Type: core update (global, all regions and languages)
Date and rollout period: Started on 13 January 2020; according to the Google Search Status Dashboard, the rollout finished on 16 January 2020. At the time, Google wrote on the @searchliaison account that the update was ‘mostly’ rolled out and that the full rollout could take up to two weeks.
Impact on the SEO industry: The first core update of 2020, announced on the @searchliaison account. From the first hours, the SEO industry judged it to be much stronger than the September 2019 core update.
Recommendations for your website: The standard recommendations for core updates.

BERT Update (October 2019)

Date and rollout period: 22 October 2019 (confirmed). International rollout from 9 December 2019.
Impact on the SEO industry: The algorithm was enhanced with BERT, a natural language processing (NLP) model that helps Google better understand the context of queries.
Recommendations for your website: Create natural content that answers users’ questions comprehensively, without excessive keyword ‘stuffing’.

‘Medic’ Core Update (August 2018)

Date and rollout period: Started on 1 August 2018.
Impact on the SEO industry: A broad core update that disproportionately hit sites in the health and wellness sector (YMYL – Your Money or Your Life), but affected all industries. MozCast recorded a massive impact.
Recommendations for your website: Strengthen your site’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), especially if you operate in a YMYL sector. Make sure your content is written by experts and is credible.

Mobile Speed Update (July 2018)

Date and rollout period: 9 July 2018 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Mobile page speed became a ranking factor for mobile results, although it mainly affected the slowest pages.
Recommendations for your website: Optimise your page loading speed, especially on mobile devices.

Mobile-First Index Rollout (March 2018)

Date and rollout period: 26 March 2018 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google started indexing pages based primarily on their mobile version.
Recommendations for your website: Make sure your site is fully responsive and offers full functionality and content on mobile devices.

‘Fred’ (March 2017)

Date and rollout period: 8 March 2017 (unconfirmed; the name is a joke).
Impact on the SEO industry: A large, unconfirmed update that hit sites with low-quality content, too many ads and aggressive monetisation.
Recommendations for your website: Focus on value for the user, not on aggressive monetisation.

Penguin 4.0 (September 2016)

Date and rollout period: Announced on 23 September 2016; rolled out in several phases.
Impact on the SEO industry: Penguin became part of the core algorithm and works in real time. Instead of penalising whole sites, it devalues bad links.
Recommendations for your website: The key is building high-quality, natural links and regularly auditing and disavowing toxic links.

Panda 4.2 (July 2015)

Date and rollout period: 17 July 2015 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: A Panda data refresh that could take months to roll out.
Recommendations for your website: Keep improving the quality of your content.

The Quality Update (May 2015)

Date and rollout period: 3 May 2015 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: A broad core algorithm update affecting ‘quality signals’. Also known as ‘Phantom 2’.
Recommendations for your website: A general focus on the quality of the site as a whole.

Mobile Update AKA ‘Mobilegeddon’ (April 2015)

Date and rollout period: 22 April 2015 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google announced that mobile-friendly pages would get a ‘boost’ in mobile rankings. The impact was smaller than expected.
Recommendations for your website: Make sure your site is fully responsive and mobile-friendly.

HTTPS/SSL Update (August 2014)

Date and rollout period: 6 August 2014 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: Google started favouring sites with an HTTPS certificate, giving them a ‘lightweight’ ranking boost.
Recommendations for your website: Switch to HTTPS if you haven’t done so already.

Pigeon (July 2014)

Date and rollout period: 24 July 2014 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: A significant update to the local algorithm that tied it more closely to Google’s core algorithm.
Recommendations for your website: Optimise your presence in Google My Business (today: Google Business Profile) and keep your NAP data (Name, Address, Phone) consistent across the web.

Panda 4.0 (May 2014)

Date and rollout period: 19 May 2014 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: A major Panda update that included both an algorithm update and a data refresh. It affected about 7.5% of queries.
Recommendations for your website: Keep focusing on content quality.

Hummingbird (August 2013)

Date and rollout period: Rolled out around 20 August 2013, announced on 26 September.
Impact on the SEO industry: A complete rebuild of the core algorithm, focused on better understanding the meaning of queries (semantic search) and their context, not just keywords.
Recommendations for your website: Create content that answers user intent, not just specific keywords. Focus on covering the topic broadly.

Penguin 2.0 (May 2013)

Date and rollout period: 22 May 2013 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: The fourth Penguin update, which was more precise, targeting manipulative links at page level.
Recommendations for your website: Strengthen your strategy for building high-quality links.

Exact-Match Domain (EMD) Update (September 2012)

Date and rollout period: 27 September 2012 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: It devalued exact-match keyword domains (e.g. ‘best-modular-homes.com’) if they didn’t offer high-quality content.
Recommendations for your website: Having an exact-match keyword domain isn’t enough; content quality matters most.

Penguin (April 2012)

Date and rollout period: 24 April 2012 (confirmed).
Impact on the SEO industry: The first Penguin update, which hit link spam and over-optimisation (e.g. keyword stuffing). It affected about 3.1% of English-language queries.
Recommendations for your website: It revolutionised the approach to link building. Avoiding manipulative links and maintaining a natural link profile became a necessity.

Panda/Farmer (February 2011)

Date and rollout period: 23 February 2011 (confirmed). Rolled out in Europe in April 2011.
Impact on the SEO industry: The main Panda update, which hit sites with low-quality content, ‘content farms’, sites with a high ad-to-content ratio and other quality problems. It affected up to 12% of search results.
Recommendations for your website: This was a turning point in SEO. Focusing on creating original, valuable, in-depth content that genuinely helps users became a necessity.

Google’s approach to spam has evolved from ‘penalising’ to ‘devaluing’. Early updates such as Panda and Penguin were seen as ‘penalties’ that caused sudden drops in rankings. Over time, however, especially since Penguin 4.0, Google has moved to a model of ‘devaluing’ bad signals (e.g. weak links) instead of penalising the whole site. It’s a subtle but important change. It means that recovering after an update may be less about ‘lifting a penalty’ and more about ‘overriding’ bad signals with good ones. Focusing on positive actions (building valuable links, creating great content) is more effective than obsessively ‘fixing’ past mistakes.

Many updates, especially in recent years, overlap. Examples include the October 2023 Core Update and Spam Update, or the December 2022 Link Spam Update and the HCU. What’s more, the March 2024 Core Update integrated the Helpful Content System into the core algorithm. Google has also confirmed the existence of ‘different core systems’. This suggests that Google increasingly assesses sites as a whole rather than on individual factors. All the elements – content quality, link profile, user experience, credibility – are interconnected and affect one another. There’s no longer ‘one thing to fix’; overall quality is what counts.

Key Google algorithm updates – table (2026–2011)

Rollout date	Update name (confirmed/unconfirmed)	Rollout period	Main goal/impact	Key recommendations
24 Sep 2026	September 2026 Spam Update (Confirmed)	13 days, 16 h	Fighting spam; three waves of changes (25–27 Sep, 30 Sep, 4–6 Oct).	Compliance with the spam policies.
30 Aug 2026	Site Reputation Abuse – change for the EEA (Confirmed)	Policy change	Manual actions don’t demote results for users in the EEA; the section may rank independently.	Don’t treat it as a loophole; monitor GSC.
18 Aug 2026	August 2026 Spam Update (Confirmed)	2 days, 16 h	A ‘normal’ spam update, no new policies.	Review compliance with the spam policies.
24 Jun 2026	June 2026 Spam Update (Confirmed)	2 days, 1 h	Fighting spam (not link spam or site reputation abuse).	Analyse drops from 24–26 Jun in GSC.
15 Jun 2026	Back Button Hijacking – spam policy (Confirmed)	Enforced from 15 Jun	Back button hijacking as a violation of ‘malicious practices’.	Audit ad scripts and libraries.
21 May 2026	May 2026 Core Update (Confirmed)	11 days, 21 h	A broad update, stronger than the March one.	Analyse in GSC from around 9 Jun; quality of the whole site.
27 Mar 2026	March 2026 Core Update (Confirmed)	12 days, 4 h	A broad core algorithm update.	Separate from the effect of the 24–25 Mar spam update.
24 Mar 2026	March 2026 Spam Update (Confirmed)	19 h, 30 min	The shortest spam update in history; little noticeable impact.	Compliance with the spam policies.
5 Feb 2026	February 2026 Discover Core Update (Confirmed)	21 days, 17 h	Discover: local content, less clickbait, topical expertise (launch: English, US).	Clickbait-free titles, content with real expertise.
11 Dec 2025	December 2025 Core Update (Confirmed)	18 days, 2 h	A big update; extreme drops and gains for publishers.	Compare rankings, not just traffic (holiday season).
26 Aug 2025	August 2025 Spam Update (Confirmed)	26 days, 15 h	Programmatic pages, doorway pages, content spinning.	Unique value on every page.
30 Jun 2025	June 2025 Core Update (Confirmed)	16 days, 18 h	High volatility; partial recoveries of sites hit by HCU 2023.	Long-term improvement in content quality.
13 Mar 2025	March 2025 Core Update (Confirmed)	13 days, 21 h	Promoting valuable content, emphasis on creators.	Focus on content quality, E-E-A-T.
5 Mar 2025	Unnamed Update (Unconfirmed)	Short, intense	High ranking volatility.	Avoid panic, focus on the fundamentals.
19 Feb 2025	Unnamed Update (Unconfirmed)	Short, intense	High ranking volatility.	Keep working on quality and UX.
19 Dec 2024	December 2024 Spam Update (Confirmed)	7 days, 2 h	Fighting spam (links, AI content).	Eliminate manipulative tactics, audit for spam.
12 Dec 2024	December 2024 Core Update (Confirmed)	6 days, 4 h	Continuous improvement of various algorithm systems.	Continuous optimisation, quality.
11 Nov 2024	November 2024 Core Update (Confirmed)	23 days, 13 h	A broad core algorithm update.	Focus on content quality and usefulness.
5 Nov 2024	Unnamed Update (Unconfirmed)	Short, intense	A potential update or the effect of the news cycle.	Analyse the context of the changes.
25 Sep 2024	Site Reputation Abuse #2 (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Expanded action against site reputation abuse.	Avoid promoting low-quality content on reputable sites.
15 Aug 2024	August 2024 Core Update (Confirmed)	19 days, 4 h	Quality of results, content from creators.	Strengthen content strategy, author authority.
15 Aug 2024	Rankings Issue (Confirmed)	4 days, 11 h	A technical error at Google affecting rankings.	Monitor the Google Search Status Dashboard.
20 Jun 2024	June 2024 Spam Update (Confirmed)	7 days, 1 h	Fighting auto-generated content and spam.	Avoid mass-generating AI content without value.
14 May 2024	AI Overviews Rollout (Confirmed)	Ongoing	Rollout of AI-generated results (SGE).	Optimise for concise, direct answers for AI.
6 May 2024	Site Reputation Abuse Penalty (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Action against site reputation abuse.	High-quality content across the whole site.
5 Mar 2024	March 2024 Core Update (Confirmed)	45 days	HCU integration, reduction of unhelpful content.	Create ‘people-first’ content, remove ‘unhelpful content’.
5 Mar 2024	March 2024 Spam Update (Confirmed)	Approx. 15 days	Fighting scaled content abuse and expired domain abuse.	Avoid manipulating rankings through spam.
1 Feb 2024	Indexing Bug(s) (Confirmed)	Approx. 7 days	Indexing bug.	Monitor Google Search Console.
22 Jan 2024	Ranking Bug (Confirmed)	Unspecified	A bug making pages disappear from the rankings.	Be aware that Google’s bugs can cause fluctuations.
8 Nov 2023	November 2023 Reviews Update (Confirmed)	Almost a month	The last announced reviews update.	Create in-depth, valuable reviews.
2 Nov 2023	November 2023 Core Update (Confirmed)	25 days, 21 h	Affected a ‘different core system’.	Maintain high quality in every aspect of the site.
5 Oct 2023	October 2023 Core Update (Confirmed)	13 days, 23 h	A broad core algorithm update.	General SEO best practice, patience.
4 Oct 2023	October 2023 Spam Update (Confirmed)	Approx. 2 weeks	Better spam detection in languages other than English.	Avoid spammy practices.
14 Sep 2023	September 2023 Helpful Content Update (Confirmed)	13 days	Stronger impact, especially on AI content.	Create ‘people-first’ content, avoid mass AI content.
22 Aug 2023	August 2023 Core Update (Confirmed)	16 days	A broad core algorithm update.	Focus on quality, usefulness and E-E-A-T.
25 May 2023	Search Generative Experience (SGE) (Confirmed)	Ongoing	Launch of AI results (Bard).	Optimise content for AI summaries.
12 Apr 2023	April 2023 Reviews Update (Confirmed)	13 days, 2 h	Extended from product reviews to reviews of services and other things.	In-depth reviews based on your own research.
15 Mar 2023	March 2023 Core Update (Confirmed)	13 days	A broad core algorithm update.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
21 Feb 2023	February 2023 Product Reviews Update (Confirmed)	14 days	Product reviews in 11 languages, including Polish for the first time.	Your own tests instead of rewriting specifications.
14 Dec 2022	December 2022 Link Spam Update (Confirmed)	Almost a month	Fighting link spam (SpamBrain).	Audit links, disavow toxic ones, build natural ones.
5 Dec 2022	December 2022 Helpful Content Update (Confirmed)	Over a month	Rewarding ‘people-first’ content.	Strengthen user-focused content.
19 Oct 2022	October 2022 Spam Update (Confirmed)	2 days	Global anti-spam update, all languages.	Compliance with the spam policies.
20 Sep 2022	September 2022 Product Reviews Update (Confirmed)	6 days	English-language product reviews; overlapped with the September 2022 Core Update.	Original reviews based on your own experience.
12 Sep 2022	September 2022 Core Update (Confirmed)	14 days	A broad core algorithm update.	Assess the quality of the whole site.
25 Aug 2022	Helpful Content Update (Confirmed)	2 weeks	Rewarding ‘people-first’ content, devaluing SEO-first content.	Create content that meets users’ needs.
27 Jul 2022	July 2022 Product Reviews Update (Confirmed)	6 days	English-language product reviews.	In-depth analysis and original research instead of round-ups.
25 May 2022	May 2022 Core Update (Confirmed)	Approx. 2 weeks	A broad core algorithm update.	Focus on overall quality and usefulness.
23 Mar 2022	March 2022 Product Reviews Update (Confirmed)	14 days	English-language product reviews, including rankings and comparisons.	Back up recommendations with evidence from your own tests.
22 Feb 2022	Page Experience Update (Desktop) (Confirmed)	9 days	Page Experience extended to desktop.	Optimise Core Web Vitals for desktop.
1 Dec 2021	Product Reviews Update (Confirmed)	3 weeks	Rewarding high-quality product reviews.	Provide in-depth, original reviews.
17 Nov 2021	November 2021 Core Update (Confirmed)	13 days	A broad core algorithm update.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
3 Nov 2021	November 2021 Spam Update (Confirmed)	8 days, 1 h	General anti-spam update (Google didn’t specify the type of spam).	Compliance with the spam policies.
28 Jul 2021	July 2021 Link Spam Update (Confirmed)	2–4 weeks	A broad link algorithm update.	Emphasis on link quality.
1 Jul 2021	July 2021 Core Update (Confirmed)	11 days	Continuation of the June core update.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
15 Jun 2021	Page Experience Update (Mobile) (Confirmed)	Until August	Core Web Vitals introduced as a mobile ranking factor.	Optimise speed and mobile responsiveness.
2 Jun 2021	June 2021 Core Update (Confirmed)	10 days	Unprecedented announcement of two core updates at once.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
8 Apr 2021	Product Reviews Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Rewarding in-depth reviews.	Create valuable, original reviews.
10 Feb 2021	Passage Indexing (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Indexing and ranking passages of text.	Structure content with clear headings.
3 Dec 2020	December 2020 Core Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	A broad core algorithm update.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
4 May 2020	May 2020 Core Update (Confirmed)	14 days	A broad core algorithm update during the pandemic; large ranking fluctuations.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
13 Jan 2020	January 2020 Core Update (Confirmed)	3 days	A broad, global core algorithm update; judged stronger than September 2019.	Standard recommendations for core updates.
22 Oct 2019	BERT Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Better understanding of query context (NLP).	Natural content, no keyword stuffing.
1 Aug 2018	‘Medic’ Core Update (Confirmed)	Approx. 1 week	Hit YMYL sites, emphasis on E-A-T.	Strengthen E-A-T and content credibility.
9 Jul 2018	Mobile Speed Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Mobile page speed as a ranking factor.	Optimise mobile loading speed.
26 Mar 2018	Mobile-First Index Rollout (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Indexing pages based on their mobile version.	Full mobile responsiveness and functionality.
8 Mar 2017	‘Fred’ (Unconfirmed)	Unspecified	Hit sites with low-quality content and excessive ads.	Focus on value for the user.
23 Sep 2016	Penguin 4.0 (Confirmed)	Multi-phase	Real-time Penguin, devaluing bad links.	Build high-quality links, audit.
17 Jul 2015	Panda 4.2 (Confirmed)	Months	Panda data refresh.	Keep improving content quality.
3 May 2015	The Quality Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	A broad update affecting ‘quality signals’.	General focus on site quality.
22 Apr 2015	Mobile Update AKA ‘Mobilegeddon’ (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Ranking boost for mobile-friendly pages.	Full responsiveness and mobile-friendliness.
6 Aug 2014	HTTPS/SSL Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Favouring sites with an HTTPS certificate.	Switch to HTTPS.
24 Jul 2014	Pigeon (Confirmed)	Unspecified	A significant local algorithm update.	Optimise Google My Business (now Google Business Profile), consistent NAP.
19 May 2014	Panda 4.0 (Confirmed)	Unspecified	A major Panda update (algorithm + data).	Keep focusing on content quality.
20 Aug 2013	Hummingbird (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Algorithm rebuild, better understanding of query context.	Create content that answers user intent.
22 May 2013	Penguin 2.0 (Confirmed)	Unspecified	A more precise Penguin, targeting links at page level.	Strengthen your high-quality link building strategy.
27 Sep 2012	Exact-Match Domain (EMD) Update (Confirmed)	Unspecified	Devaluing exact-match keyword domains.	Content quality matters more than the domain name.
24 Apr 2012	Penguin (Confirmed)	Unspecified	The first Penguin update, fighting link spam.	Avoid manipulative links, natural link profile.
23 Feb 2011	Panda/Farmer (Confirmed)	Months	Hit sites with low-quality content and content farms.	Focus on original, valuable content.

Iconic Google updates: Panda, Penguin and core updates

These three types of Google updates are the pillars of modern SEO. Understanding their goals and impact is absolutely fundamental for anyone who wants to rank their site effectively.

Google Panda: a revolution in content quality

Introduced in February 2011, Panda was Google’s direct response to the growing amount of low-quality content in the search results, often coming from so-called ‘content farms’. Its main goal was to reduce the visibility of sites with ‘thin content’ (shallow, low-value content), duplicate content, an excessive ad-to-content ratio and low authority. The idea was to reward sites that offer original, in-depth and valuable information to users.

Panda assessed many aspects of quality, including: the originality, depth and relevance of content, user engagement (e.g. bounce rate, time spent on the site), the site’s authority and credibility (E-A-T), and the ad-to-content ratio. Sites hit by Panda experienced a sudden, site-wide drop in organic traffic and a broad drop in rankings for many keywords. Importantly, Panda was an algorithmic update, so there were no manual notifications in Google Search Console.

Strategies for surviving and recovering from Panda centred on quality. Create original, well-written, in-depth and comprehensive content that genuinely meets your target audience’s needs. Avoid duplicate content, both internal and external, by using canonical tags and 301 redirects. Balance the amount of ads and content so that ads don’t get in the way of the user experience. Content should always come first. Optimising the user experience (UX) by looking after site speed, mobile responsiveness and easy navigation is key, because good UX encourages users to stay on the site longer and lowers the bounce rate. Although E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) wasn’t originally a Panda concept, it’s closely related to it. Draw on credible sources, involve subject-matter experts and be transparent (e.g. ‘About us’ pages, author bios).

Google Penguin: the end of link manipulation

Introduced in April 2012, Penguin aimed to identify and penalise sites using so-called ‘black-hat SEO’, particularly link spam and manipulative link-building practices. Before Penguin, many sites manipulated rankings by accumulating large numbers of low-quality backlinks or taking part in link exchange schemes. Penguin changed that by prioritising the quality, relevance and authenticity of links over their sheer number.

Penguin focused on unnatural inbound links (e.g. paid links, links from low-quality or irrelevant sites, link farms), over-optimised anchor text (e.g. too many exact-match keyword links) and other manipulative tactics. Sites hit by Penguin saw their rankings lowered for violating Google’s webmaster guidelines.

Strategies for surviving and recovering from Penguin centred on ethical link building. The key is earning links from authoritative, relevant, high-quality sites. Go for content marketing (infographics, in-depth articles), guest blogging on reputable sites and building relationships with influencers. Audit your site’s link profile regularly with tools such as Google Search Console. If you identify toxic or spammy links, use Google’s Disavow Tool to tell Google you don’t want those links taken into account. Avoid over-optimising anchor text with exact-match keywords. Instead, use branded anchors (the company name), varied phrases and synonyms. Prioritising readability and user experience is key. Good content naturally attracts valuable backlinks, so creating high-quality, engaging content matters too.

Google core updates: the foundations of good SEO

A core update is a broad, global change to Google’s algorithm aimed at improving the quality of search results overall. Google stresses that their main goal is ‘surfacing relevant and satisfying content’ and to ‘prioritize content that is more useful, informative and meets user intent’. In recent years, core updates have also absorbed the Helpful Content system, promoting content from creators and reducing the amount of unoriginal content.

Unlike Panda or Penguin, which targeted specific problems (content, links), core updates are more holistic. Google rarely gives details of what exactly has changed, suggesting there are no ‘specific fixes’. Rollouts can take anything from a few days to over a month (e.g. the March 2024 Core Update took 45 days). Core updates usually result in noticeable ranking fluctuations. The impact can vary depending on the industry, content strategy and past SEO practices. Sites that see drops often have problems with Google’s trust, stemming from low-quality content, buying links or other manipulative practices.

Strategies for surviving and recovering from core updates require a comprehensive approach. Monitor performance metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates (CTR) and conversions, both during and after the rollout. The key is to focus on content quality rather than quick fixes. Google consistently stresses that content should be created for users, not for algorithms. Remove any ‘unhelpful content’ – thin, weak, copied or mass-generated AI content. If resources allow, it’s worth editing it to bring it in line with Google’s policies. If you’ve been hit, review Google’s quality guidelines and ask yourself questions such as: ‘Does your content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?’. Google increasingly promotes content from individual creators, so it’s worth highlighting the expertise within your organisation, working with industry leaders and developing content that shows authentic perspectives. Remember to be patient too: according to Google, some changes take effect within a few days, but its systems may need several months to confirm that the site as a whole produces helpful content.

Google’s approach to E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) has evolved with the addition of ‘Experience’. Initially Google focused on E-A-T. In December 2022, however, Google added an extra ‘E’ – Experience – to its quality rater guidelines. This means Google isn’t only looking for experts with theoretical knowledge, but also for people with personal, hands-on experience of the topic. For content creators, this means sharing your own experiences, case studies, product tests or first-hand perspectives becomes even more important. It’s especially relevant in industries where personal experience is crucial, e.g. construction (modular homes), where reviews and descriptions from the customer’s or contractor’s perspective are very valuable.

In March 2024 Google introduced the scaled content abuse policy, and subsequent spam updates enforce it. The policy is about mass-producing pages with no value for users ‘no matter how it’s created’ – in other words, it’s the abuse that gets penalised, not the use of AI as such. The rollout of AI Overviews further shows that Google is actively integrating AI into Search. This is a key lesson for content creators: AI is a powerful tool, but using it has to serve the goal of delivering value to the user. Mass-generating low-quality content without human review and added value will be penalised. AI used to streamline the creation of high-quality, original and helpful content, on the other hand, is acceptable and even welcome.

What to do after a core update – my process

When I see a traffic drop that coincides with a core update, I don’t start by changing the site – I start with a diagnosis. Here’s what it looks like step by step (based on Google’s official guidance and on what works for me with clients):

I don’t panic before the rollout ends. I check the start and end dates in the Search Status Dashboard. During the rollout, rankings can jump both ways, and changes made ‘on the fly’ only make later analysis harder.
I compare periods in Google Search Console. Google recommends waiting at least a week after the update has finished, then setting that week against the week before it started (Performance report → Date → Compare). I look at rankings and impressions, not just clicks.
I assess the scale of the drop. A drop from position 2 to 4 usually doesn’t call for drastic action – Google explicitly advises against changing content that performs well. A drop from 4 to 29 is a signal for deeper analysis.
I isolate the pages and queries that lost the most. I check whether it’s one type of page (e.g. categories, blog posts, local pages), one topic cluster or the whole site. I analyse results in web search, Images, Video and Discover separately.
I compare myself with what now ranks higher. For a few key queries I check where the top 3 pages beat mine: completeness of the answer, freshness, original data, the author’s experience.
I assess content quality and E-E-A-T. I go through Google’s self-assessment questions: is the content original, does it show first-hand experience, is it clear who wrote it and why you should trust them, and wasn’t it created mainly for the search engine?
I make changes that make sense for users, not ‘quick fixes’. I rewrite and tidy up content, update data and merge weak, overlapping articles. I treat deleting content as a last resort.
I give it time. The effects of improvements may show up after a few days, but often only after a few months – with the next big core update or with one of the smaller ones Google doesn’t announce. That’s why I record the dates of the changes I make (e.g. in GSC annotations), so that later I know what worked.

If you’d like me to analyse the drops on your site after an update, have a look at my SEO audit. I’ve described the wider context of what Google takes into account when ranking pages in my article on Google ranking factors.

Other important changes and lessons for the future

Beyond Panda, Penguin and core updates, Google has introduced a number of other significant changes that shape the SEO landscape.

Helpful Content Update (HCU): Introduced in August 2022 and then integrated into core updates in March 2024. Its aim is to reward ‘people-first’ content – i.e. content created primarily for people rather than for search engines. It reinforces Google’s general trend of promoting genuine value.

Reviews Update: A series of updates (the first in April 2021, the last announced one in November 2023). They aim to reward in-depth, original reviews of products, services or places that go beyond the basic information and contain real experience.

Page Experience Update: Rolled out on mobile in June 2021 and on desktop in February 2022. It introduced Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS – in March 2024 FID was replaced by INP) as ranking factors, underlining the importance of a page’s loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability.

BERT Update: An algorithm change from October 2019 that, thanks to natural language processing (NLP), lets Google better understand the context of users’ queries. It means Google is getting better and better at understanding intent, even when a query is complex or imprecise.

HTTPS/SSL Update: Since August 2014, Google has given a ‘lightweight’ ranking boost to sites with an HTTPS certificate. It’s part of building trust and security on the web.

Mobile-First Index: Since March 2018, Google has indexed pages based primarily on their mobile version. That means the mobile version of a site is now what matters most for SEO.

Changes in 2026 outside algorithm updates (according to the Google Search Central documentation changelog):

14 and 23 April 2026 – Google may take manual actions based on users’ spam reports (previously the reports were used mainly to improve its automated systems).
7 May 2026 – FAQ rich results stopped being shown in Search; in June Google removed their documentation.
15 May 2026 – Google clarified that its spam policies also cover attempts to manipulate generative AI answers in Search (AI Overviews, AI Mode), and published a guide to optimising for generative AI features.
3 June 2026 – generative AI performance reports (for Search and Discover) appeared in Google Search Console; since 31 August 2026 they’ve been available to all sites.

All these Google updates point to a clear trend: Google strives to deliver results that are ever more relevant, valuable, safe and user-friendly. The emphasis is on quality, authority, experience and usefulness.

Modern SEO requires a holistic approach, because Google doesn’t just update its content algorithms (Panda, HCU, core updates) and link algorithms (Penguin), but also introduces technical changes (Page Experience, Mobile-First Index, HTTPS). What’s more, Google integrates these systems (e.g. HCU into core updates). It means great content isn’t enough if the site is slow or doesn’t work on mobile devices. And a fast site isn’t enough if the content is low quality. Every aspect of the site has to be at a high level to achieve and maintain high rankings.

Updates such as Hummingbird and BERT show that Google is getting better and better at understanding natural language and the intent behind queries, not just the keywords themselves. Earlier ‘keyword stuffing’ tactics were penalised by Panda. Keyword optimisation still matters, but the key is understanding what the user really wants to find when they type in a given phrase. Creating content that comprehensively answers user intent and reads naturally is far more important than sticking rigidly to keyword density.

How do you adapt effectively to Google algorithm changes?

Since we know that Google updates are inevitable and often unpredictable, the key to success is proactive adaptation. Below are the most important strategies that will help your site not just survive but grow in the dynamic world of SEO.

Content quality above all:

Create content that’s original, in-depth, well researched and genuinely helpful to your target audience.
Make sure your content answers user intent, solves their problems and delivers valuable information.
Avoid ‘thin’ content, duplication, mass-generating content with no added value (even AI-generated) and keyword over-optimisation.
Regularly updating and refreshing existing content is key to keeping it current and relevant.

User experience (UX) first:

Page loading speed: Optimise images, use caching and minify code so that the site loads lightning-fast on all devices.
Mobile responsiveness: Make sure the site looks and works perfectly on smartphones and tablets. Remember mobile-first indexing.
Intuitive navigation: Make it easy for users to find their way around the site and find the information they need.
Minimising annoying elements: Avoid aggressive pop-ups and excessive ads that disrupt reading.

Building authority and trust (E-E-A-T):

Expertise: Make sure the content on your site is created by experts in the field. It’s worth putting bylines on articles, adding author bios and linking to their profiles.
Experience: Show that you have hands-on experience of the topic. You can share case studies, personal reviews and test results. This is especially important in industries where personal experience is crucial, e.g. construction (modular homes), where reviews and descriptions from the customer’s or contractor’s perspective are very valuable.
Authoritativeness: Build authority through high-quality backlinks from reputable sites in your industry. It’s worth being cited by other authoritative sources.
Trustworthiness: Ensure site security (HTTPS), clear privacy policies, contact details and transparent company information.

Continuous monitoring and analysis:

Check your rankings and organic traffic regularly with tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Monitor your backlink profile so you can quickly identify and disavow toxic links.
Follow industry news and Google’s official announcements to stay on top of potential Google updates.

A long-term approach:

SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. There are no quick ‘fixes’ after a core update.
Focus on building lasting value for users, not on short-term manipulation of the algorithm.
Improving visibility after a major update can take months. But you don’t have to wait only for the next big core update – Google continuously rolls out smaller, unannounced updates, and an improved site can gain with those too.

In its core updates documentation, Google says plainly that there’s no guarantee changes to your site will lead to a visible effect, and that rankings aren’t yours for keeps. That’s why, after a drop, it’s better to think about rebuilding trust – systematic, consistent improvements across the whole site – than about hunting for a single ‘bug’ to fix.

FAQ – Google algorithm updates

When was the last Google algorithm update?

The latest confirmed ranking update is the September 2026 Spam Update (24 September – 8 October 2026). The latest core update is the May 2026 Core Update (21 May – 2 June 2026). This is the state of play on 13 October 2026 – you’ll always find the current list on the Google Search Status Dashboard.

How do I check whether a traffic drop was caused by a Google update?

Compare the date of the drop in Google Search Console with the start and end dates of the update. Google recommends waiting at least a week after the rollout has finished and comparing that week with the week before it started. If the drop began on a different date, look for the cause elsewhere: changes to the site, technical problems, seasonality, a manual action in GSC.

Which Google algorithm updates were there in 2020?

Three core updates: January 2020 (from 13 January), May 2020 (4–18 May) and December 2020 (3–16 December). You’ll find the details in the timeline above.

What’s the difference between a core update and a spam update?

A core update changes how the quality and relevance of all pages is assessed – a drop after one doesn’t have to mean you’re breaking any rules, just that other pages were rated higher. A spam update concerns sites that break Google’s spam policies – here you have to remove the cause of the violation.

Can you predict the next Google update?

No. Google doesn’t announce core updates in advance – it announces them on the day they start. It does, however, announce some policy changes ahead of time (e.g. it announced back button hijacking two months before enforcement began).

The future of Google Search and your website

The world of SEO is dynamic and full of change, but one thing stays the same: Google strives to give its users the best possible results. Whether we’re talking about Panda, Penguin or the latest core updates, every Google update aims to reinforce that mission.

For a website owner, this means one thing: focus on the user. Create content that’s valuable, original and helpful. Make sure you provide an excellent user experience and build authority and trust. These are the foundations that will survive any algorithm change. Remember that your site should be valuable even if search engines didn’t exist – that’s the key to long-term success online.

Tomasz Stopka

SEO consultant since 2008 · published author on content marketing

I have worked at agencies, at Onet (one of Poland’s largest web portals) and independently as SEMURAI. In the Academy I share what has worked in practice – specific and no fluff.

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