A live, continuously updated calendar of every Google Search ranking update, sourced directly from Google's Search Status Dashboard. Core updates, spam updates, helpful content updates, reviews updates, and more from 2021 to today.
The most recent Google Search ranking update is the March 2026 core update, which ran from to . It was preceded by the March 2026 spam update ( to ). See the full list below, grouped by year, with plain-English explanations of every update.
Google rolls out major updates to its search algorithms multiple times a year. Each update can change which websites rank well and which lose visibility. If your traffic drops, one of the first things to check is whether a Google update was running during the same timeframe.
This tracker is maintained by Connectica LLC for internal use when diagnosing client ranking changes. We're publishing it because this data should be accessible to everyone, not just agencies. Every entry is sourced directly from Google's official Search Status Dashboard and aligned with their confirmed ranking update history.
Core updates don't target specific sites. They re-rank content based on overall quality and relevance across the web.
Worried about how a recent update affected your site? Connectica has helped South Florida and national businesses recover from algorithm updates since 2003. We're a Google Partner agency with no long-term contracts. Call 877-816-2259 or get in touch for a free consultation.
Last synced with Google: 26-04-15 (hourly auto-update)
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March 2026 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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March 2026 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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February 2026 Discover update
Changes to how Google's Discover feed (the content feed on Android phones and the Google app) selects and ranks articles. Affects traffic from the Discover feed, which is separate from standard web search results.
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| Update | Start |
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December 2025 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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August 2025 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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June 2025 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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March 2025 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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| Update | Start |
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December 2024 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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December 2024 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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November 2024 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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August 2024 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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June 2024 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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March 2024 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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March 2024 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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| Update | Start |
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November 2023 reviews update
A broader version of the product reviews update covering all types of review content - not just products, but also services, destinations, media, and more. Same principle: reward first-hand experience, demote thin roundups.
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November 2023 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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October 2023 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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October 2023 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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September 2023 helpful content update
Rewards websites that publish content written for real people - original, experienced, substantive writing - and demotes pages that appear to be written primarily to rank on Google (such as thin rewrites, AI-generated filler, or keyword-stuffed articles).
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August 2023 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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April 2023 reviews update
A broader version of the product reviews update covering all types of review content - not just products, but also services, destinations, media, and more. Same principle: reward first-hand experience, demote thin roundups.
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March 2023 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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February 2023 product reviews update
Targets the quality of product review content on the web. Rewards in-depth, first-hand reviews with original photos, videos, and real-world testing. Demotes thin 'top 10' roundup articles that don't demonstrate actual product experience.
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| Update | Start |
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December 2022 link spam update
Targets websites that have built links through paid placements, private blog networks (PBNs), link exchanges, or undisclosed guest post schemes. Google devalues the unnatural links rather than penalising the whole site.
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December 2022 helpful content update
Rewards websites that publish content written for real people - original, experienced, substantive writing - and demotes pages that appear to be written primarily to rank on Google (such as thin rewrites, AI-generated filler, or keyword-stuffed articles).
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October 2022 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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September 2022 product reviews update
Targets the quality of product review content on the web. Rewards in-depth, first-hand reviews with original photos, videos, and real-world testing. Demotes thin 'top 10' roundup articles that don't demonstrate actual product experience.
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September 2022 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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August 2022 helpful content update
Rewards websites that publish content written for real people - original, experienced, substantive writing - and demotes pages that appear to be written primarily to rank on Google (such as thin rewrites, AI-generated filler, or keyword-stuffed articles).
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July 2022 product reviews update
Targets the quality of product review content on the web. Rewards in-depth, first-hand reviews with original photos, videos, and real-world testing. Demotes thin 'top 10' roundup articles that don't demonstrate actual product experience.
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May 2022 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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March 2022 product reviews update
Targets the quality of product review content on the web. Rewards in-depth, first-hand reviews with original photos, videos, and real-world testing. Demotes thin 'top 10' roundup articles that don't demonstrate actual product experience.
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Page experience update for desktop
Factors how fast pages load, how stable they feel while loading, how quickly they respond to clicks, whether they're mobile-friendly, and whether they avoid intrusive popups. Together these are known as Core Web Vitals.
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| Update | Start |
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December 2021 product reviews update
Targets the quality of product review content on the web. Rewards in-depth, first-hand reviews with original photos, videos, and real-world testing. Demotes thin 'top 10' roundup articles that don't demonstrate actual product experience.
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November 2021 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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November 2021 spam update
Targets websites using deceptive tactics like hidden text, auto-generated content, cloaked pages, and other practices that violate Google's spam policies. Sites relying on these tactics typically lose rankings after a spam update.
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July 2021 link spam update
Targets websites that have built links through paid placements, private blog networks (PBNs), link exchanges, or undisclosed guest post schemes. Google devalues the unnatural links rather than penalising the whole site.
|
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July 2021 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
|
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Page experience update for mobile
Factors how fast pages load, how stable they feel while loading, how quickly they respond to clicks, whether they're mobile-friendly, and whether they avoid intrusive popups. Together these are known as Core Web Vitals.
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June 2021 core update
A broad update that changes how Google evaluates the overall quality and usefulness of websites. Core updates affect every type of site, but typically have the biggest impact on websites in health, finance, legal, and safety topics - the areas Google calls YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) where trust and accuracy matter most.
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SEO has its own acronyms. Here's what the ones on this page actually mean:
The most recent Google Search ranking update is the March 2026 core update, which ran from to . The full history of named updates back to 2021 is listed in the calendar above.
Google releases roughly 8 to 12 named ranking updates per year, on top of thousands of minor unnamed adjustments. Named updates fall into categories like core updates, spam updates, helpful content updates, reviews updates, and product reviews updates. The calendar above tracks every named update Google has officially confirmed since 2021.
A core update is a broad re-evaluation of how Google judges overall content quality, relevance, and helpfulness across the entire web. A spam update is narrower: it targets sites using manipulative tactics that violate Google's spam policies, such as cloaking, auto-generated content, and link schemes. Core updates can affect any site; spam updates primarily affect sites deliberately gaming the system.
Most named updates take between a few days and three weeks to fully roll out. Core updates typically run 12 to 20 days. Spam updates can complete in less than 24 hours in some cases (the March 2026 spam update, for example, rolled out in roughly 20 hours). During a rollout, your rankings may fluctuate before settling, so it's best to wait until the rollout is complete before making site changes in response.
Open Google Search Console and compare your impressions, clicks, and average position for the 14 days before and after the update window. If you see a sudden drop that lines up with the start date of an update on this calendar, your site was likely affected. Look at the page-level and query-level data to identify which pages and keywords moved, then assess whether the update's focus (quality, spam, links, reviews, etc.) matches the kind of content that lost ground.
Yes. Recovery is possible but depends on understanding what the specific update targeted and addressing the underlying signals. Core update recovery usually requires improving content quality, expertise signals (E-E-A-T), and overall site helpfulness. Spam update recovery requires cleaning up the policy violations the update flagged. Recovery can take weeks or months and often doesn't happen until the next update in the same family runs.
All data is pulled directly from Google's Search Status Dashboard, the official source where Google publishes ranking incidents and confirmed algorithm updates. Historical entries before the live feed's rolling window are seeded from Google's own ranking update history page. The calendar auto-syncs once daily, so it's never more than 24 hours behind.
If your organic traffic dropped suddenly and the dates line up with an update on this calendar, don't panic - and don't make drastic changes during the rollout window. Algorithm recovery requires understanding what the specific update was looking for and making targeted, measured adjustments.
Connectica has been helping businesses navigate Google algorithm updates since 2003. We're a Google Partner agency serving South Florida and clients nationwide - with no long-term contracts and real, measurable results.
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