User search behavior is continually changing. To keep up, Google’s algorithm is doing the same.
But what is helpful for Google users can often throw a wrench in any SEO marketer’s well-planned organic search strategy — especially when it’s hard to pinpoint the exact changes impacting a site’s performance.
To aid you in that understanding, we’ve created this comprehensive guide to past Google search algorithm updates. Use it to compare your site performance trends with changes to the algorithm over the last nine years and create a more informed strategy for improved organic search performance in the future.
A Note About Google Core Algorithm Updates
This guide is largely based on information provided by Google in its official algorithm update announcements. That said, Google is famously cagey about the targets and intended effects of many of its algorithm updates, especially those labeled “broad core updates.”
Any additional information about these search updates has been curated from sources such as Moz, Ahrefs, and Search Engine Journal. In many cases, these extra details are a result of in-depth analysis by search engine optimization experts, who have reviewed the rollout of historical Google core algorithm updates and monitored their effects on a variety of sites of their own initiative.
Of course, not every website is equally affected by Google’s updates, however large or small they may be. Before assuming that your site’s organic performance trends are caused by a certain algorithm update, make sure to rule out other factors such as seasonality and searcher intent.
Begin your analysis with our team’s step-by-step guide — or, if you’d rather have an expert evaluate your performance for you, we offer an Algorithm Update Analysis service to take the hard work off of your plate.
In the meantime, we recommend keeping an eye on this blog, as well as the sources linked above, for the most up-to-date information on Google’s past and present algorithm changes.
Google Algorithm Updates and Changes: 2015–2024
Below, you’ll find a concise list of Google core algorithm updates and changes from 2015 to present. For older updates that occurred before 2015, we recommend this comprehensive guide from Moz.
2024
March 2024 Core Update
Google’s latest broad core algorithm update began on March 5, 2024, and lasted until April 19, 2024. It was released in tandem with a spam update (more on that below), both of which were designed to improve the quality of user searches by showing less low-quality content made solely to attract clicks in favor of more useful content for searchers.
This update ties in with the helpful content update first deployed in 2022, with Google announcing it had enhanced its core ranking algorithm that identifies “helpful” content for users. Note that this is not a single ranking system but instead a variety of signals and systems working together to evaluate content on the web.
At the completion of the update, Google said there would be a 45% reduction in low quality and unhelpful content in the search results. The company also revealed it would no longer announce new helpful content updates, as the helpful content system had officially been incorporated into the the core update system.
March 2024 Spam Update
Released on March 5, the update was completed on March 20.
As part of Google’s continuing efforts to combat spam in its search results, the March update included three new spam policies to address:
- Expired domain abuse: This is when an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings with content that provides little to no value to users.
- Scaled content abuse: This is when many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users, typically by creating large amounts of unoriginal content that provides little to no value to users.
- Note: This content can be created via AI tools, human efforts, or some combination of both.
- Site reputation abuse: This is when third-party pages are published with little to no first-party oversight or involvement, with the purpose of manipulating search rankings by taking advantage of the first-party site’s ranking signals.
- This can include sponsored, advertising, partner, or other third-party pages that are typically independent of a host site’s main purpose or produced without close oversight/involvement of the host site.
Search Generative Experience
While not an official Google update per se, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention one of the biggest changes to the Google search engine result pages (SERPs) in years.
Google began testing an AI-generative response feature in late 2023, one that attempts to answer searcher queries through an interactive tool. The Search Generative Experience feature continues to change as it is deployed in beta mode, but the general effects on organic performance remain the same — more zero-click searches and fewer organic impressions, clicks, and traffic.
The rollout date for this feature has not yet been announced, although Google is currently testing it among users who have not opted into the beta, which indicates a live deployment is not far away. Industry rumors predict the full launch of the SGE panel in May 2024 during Google IO. Whether or not that live launch applies to all users or is offered as part of a paid subscription remains to be seen.
Catch up on how the Search Generative Experience works by watching our complete webinar below:
The video below is hosted on YouTube. If you need assistance with viewing the video, please contact info@goinflow.com.
2023
November 2023 Reviews Update
The last announced installment of Google’s review update initiative, the November 2023 reviews update was released on Nov. 8 and completed on Dec. 7.
Google announced this update to be the last in the review series to be published on its update blog, as any future improvements would be made at a regular and ongoing pace.
In Google’s own words: “The reviews system aims to better reward high quality reviews, content that provides insightful analysis and original research, and is written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.”
November 2023 Core Update
Initially released on Nov. 2 and completed on Nov. 28, this update to Google’s core algorithm focused on using E.E.A.T. principles — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — to improve the organic search engine results.
October 2023 Core Update
This core algorithm update launched just one day (Oct. 5) after the spam update released the same month (Oct. 4). Due to the overlap between these two updates, separating and analyzing each one’s impact on organic performance was made nearly impossible.
Like with most Google core algorithm updates, no specifics were provided about which principles were being deployed by the webmasters.
The October core algo update was completed on Oct. 19, 2023.
October 2023 Spam Update
On Oct. 4, 2023, Google announced an update to its spam detection systems, specifically designed to target spam in Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Hindi, Chinese, and other languages. It was completed on Oct. 19.
The goal: To reduce visible spam in the search results, particularly in regards to cloaking, hacked, auto-generated, and scraped spam.
September 2023 Helpful Content Update
As part of Google’s ongoing efforts in identifying helpful content (first introduced in 2022), Google announced the third official update of the series on Sept. 14. The rollout was completed on Sept. 28.
Industry experts reported larger hits to performance than previous updates, likely due to the proliferation of AI-generated content since the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022.
August 2023 Core Update
Google announced its latest core algorithm update on August 22, 2023. It was completed on Sept. 7.
As usual, details were scarce, and impacts were hard to determine, due to previous ranking fluxes throughout July and August of the same year.
April 2023 Reviews Update
With the release of the April 2023 reviews update on April 12, Google announced the initiative would expand beyond product reviews to cover reviews about businesses, services, destinations, and media.
The update was completed on April 25, 2023.
March 2023 Core Update
Google announced its first core algorithm update of 2023 on March 22. The update was completed less than a week later on March 28.
February 2023 Product Reviews Update
The first official update of 2023 began on February 21 and was completed on March 7. It specifically targeted reviews in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Polish.
2022
December 2022 Link Spam Update
As part of its continuous efforts to combat link spam, Google rolled out its AI-based spam-prevention system, called SpamBrain, on Dec. 14, 2022. The update was completed on Jan. 12, 2023.
In addition to detecting spam directly, the tool also detects both sites buying links and sites used for the purpose of passing outgoing backlinks.
December 2022 Helpful Content Update
Overlapping with the Link Spam Update, the December 2022 Helpful Content Update expanded on Google’s previous initiatives to identify and populate high-quality content in its search results. As usual, the update announcement was light on specifics.
The update started rolling out on December 5, 2022, and was completed on Jan. 12, 2023.
October 2022 Spam Update
On Oct. 19, 2022, Google released its latest version of its ongoing spam update, affecting all global languages.
The update was relatively short and announced as complete on Oct. 21.
September 2022 Product Reviews Update
Google marched onward with its product reviews improvements by releasing an update on Sept. 20, applying to all English-language product reviews.
The update was completed less than a week later on Sept. 26.
September 2022 Core Update
At the same time, Google released its second core algorithm update of 2022, which launched on Sept. 12 and was completed on Sept. 26.
Specific details were scarce, and the overlap with the helpful content update from the month before and the product reviews update to follow made impact analysis extremely difficult.
August 2022 Helpful Content Update
On Aug. 18, 2022, Google announced the first in an ongoing series of updates known as the Helpful Content Update. This first iteration was completed on Sept. 9.
The update included a new sitewide signal that Google considers among many other signals for ranking web pages, designed to identify content with little value, low-added value, or that which is otherwise not particularly helpful to those doing searches.
The goal: “Ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.”
July 2022 Product Reviews Update
On July 27, Google released another iteration of its product reviews update, continuing to focus on English-language product reviews.
The update wrapped up just a few days later on Aug. 2.
May 2022 Core Update
Google announced the first core algorithm update of 2022 on May 25, with no further details as to which initiatives were targeted.
The rollout was completed on June 9.
March 2022 Product Reviews Update
On March 23, one year after its initial launch of the Product Reviews Update, Google released a new iteration of the update, accompanied by an overall recap of the platform’s progress with the initiative.
This update was completed on April 6.
2021
December 2021 Product Reviews Update
In the second update since the Product Reviews Update was first released in April 2021, the December 2021 update (which launched on Dec. 1 and was completed on Dec. 21) incorporated user feedback into two new best practices:
- Evidence (such as visuals, audio, or other links) of the reviewer’s own experience with the product to support expertise and reinforce authenticity
- Links to multiple sellers to give readers the option to purchase from their merchant of choice
Google documented these best practices with those from April to create a single recommendations page: “Write high quality product reviews.”
November 2021 Core Update
The final core algorithm update of 2021 began its rollout on Nov. 17 and was completed on Nov. 30. Like algo updates before it, few specifics were included in Google’s announcement.
November 2021 Spam Update
After almost four months of silence, Google released another spam update on Nov. 3, this one labeled a “broad spam update” rather than one specifically targeting link spam.
The update was completed on Nov. 11.
July 2021 Link Spam Update
In its continued efforts to improve the quality of search results, Google announced its first official “link spam update” on July 26, 2021 — which aimed to identify and nullify link spam more broadly than in the past and across multiple languages.
The update was completed on Aug. 28.
July 2021 Core Update
Just one month after its last core algorithm update, Google announced a new update on July 1. Light on details, the update was officially completed on July 12.
June 2021 Spam Update (Part 2)
The second part of the June 2021 spam update also lasted a single day, launching and being completed on June 28.
June 2021 Spam Update (Part 1)
Released as a two-parter, the June 2021 spam update was released and completed on the same day: June 23.
June 2021 Core Update
Google kicked off a month of busy algorithm updates with a core update launched on June 2. As usual, no specifics were offered.
The update was completed on June 12, 2021.
April 2021 Product Reviews Update
On April 8, 2021, Google released the first in a series of updates that would last almost three years, known as the Product Reviews Update. This first stage was completed on April 22.
At the time, Google’s system evaluated review content on a page-level basis, working to ensure that users saw reviews with in-depth research, rather than thin content simply summarizing a product, service, or other thing. However, Google did note that for sites with a substantial amount of review content, any content on their site could be evaluated during this update.
2020
December 2020 Core Update
The final official core algorithm update of 2020 rolled out on Dec. 3 and was completed on Dec. 16, with few details from Google on exactly which initiatives were being targeted. The effects were felt quickly and significantly, and while some sites reported reversals a few days later, most of those heavily impacted would sustain these effects.
May 2020 Core Web Vitals & Page Experience Update
On May 28, Google announced a new set of ranking factors designed to judge web pages based on perceived user experience when interacting with that page. These factors, known collectively as Core Web Vitals, were set to go live in 2021, although the early announcement allowed site owners to preemptively improve their performance via the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console.
You can learn more about Core Web Vitals and how to improve them in our comprehensive guide.
May 2020 Core Update
The second Google core algo update of 2020 was announced on May 4 and was completed on May 18.
Moz measured the update as the second-highest core algo update since the August 2018 “Medic Update.”
January 2020 Core Update
The first Google core update of 2020 was announced on Jan. 13. Its effects were similar to the previous three core updates, and the update was completed just three days later on Jan. 16.
2019
October 2019 BERT Update
On Oct. 25, Google announced the integration of BERT — a natural language processing (NLP) tool called Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers — into its core search algorithm. It marked a massive change to how the search engine analyzed and understood user searches and was originally estimated to impact 10% of all search queries.
The update began rolling out on Oct. 21 with no set timeline for its completion date.
September 2019 Core Update
The last of three core updates in 2019 began rolling out on Sept. 24 and was completed on Sept. 30.
Although Google didn’t announce any details on the update, industry professionals reported a smaller impact than the June update a few months before — with most effects being centered on the Your Money, Your Life (YMYL) category of content.
June 2019 Core Update
On June 2, Google announced the second core update of the year would launch the following day (June 3) — marking the first time the company had preemptively announced a core algo update. The update would eventually be completed on June 8.
Once again, Google was light on details as to what the update entailed. However, industry professionals reported a broad impact on not just YMYL sites but also classic news sites, retail, and others.
March 2019 Core Update
The first core algorithm update of 2019 launched on March 12 and was completed on March 16. As usual, Google released few details as to the targets of the update and its intended effects.
2018
August 2018 Core Update
On Aug. 1, 2018,, a massive core algorithm update — nicknamed the “Medic” update — began rolling out. Sites most affected included those under the YMYL category, with a specific focus on those within the health and medical industries.
The update was completed on Aug. 9.
July 2018 Mobile Page Speed Update
Six months after first announcing its intended Speed Update, Google officially began the rollout of page speed as a ranking factor on July 9, 2018.
The update targeted only those pages that delivered the slowest experience to users, affecting only a small percentage of search queries.
No details were provided on when the update was officially complete.
April 2018 Core Update
Just one month later on April 12, Google announced another core algorithm update had been deployed, although no further specifics were provided.
March 2018 Mobile-First Indexing Update
Not long after the core algorithm update launched, Google announced the rollout of its long-awaited mobile-first indexing update on March 26, 2018.
The update followed a year and a half of experimentation and testing to identify best practices for mobile-first indexing, in which Google would use mobile versions of webpages for indexing and ranking to help primarily mobile users find what they were looking for.
Any sites migrated to mobile-first indexing were notified in Google Search Console.
The migration would take seven years to complete, with Google announcing the update was officially completed on Oct. 31, 2023.
March 2018 Core Update
On March 12, 2018, Google confirmed speculation of a broad algorithm update released the week before. No additional details were provided as to the targets of the update or the official rollout dates.
2017
April 2017 Project Owl Update
On April 25, 2017, Google announced a new initiative for preventing fake news and problematic content in its search results. Nicknamed “Project Owl,” the improvements fell into three main categories:
- A new feedback form for search suggestions, with formal policies about why suggestions could be removed
- A new feedback form for “Featured Snippet” answers
- A new emphasis on authoritative content to improve search quality
In contrast to other updates, Google released a lengthy description of the initiative and its features to help users and website managers alike better understand the forces at work behind the Google curtain.
March 2017 Core Update
Google confirmed a core update — nicknamed the “Fred” update — on March 7, 2017. Few details were given, and no official end date was announced.
January 2017 Intrusive Interstitial Penalty
At the beginning of 2017, Google launched an update designed to penalize those sites with intrusive interstitials — that is, page elements that obstruct users’ view of content, usually for promotional purposes. This update was part of an ongoing effort to enhance search experience for mobile users, with an additional ranking signal announced on Jan. 10, 2017.
In the years to come, Google would provide additional guidance on serving pop-ups to users in a friendly, non-intrusive way.
2016
September 2016 Penguin Update
This update was the last in a years-long update process known as the “Penguin Update.” First launched in April 2012, the update targeted spammy links and manipulative link building practices.
The final update in the fall of 2016 integrated the update into Google’s core algorithm for real-time processing.
September 2016 Possum Update
While unconfirmed by Google, industry experts reported a massive update to local search results and filter use starting Sept. 1, 2016 — the “Possum” update, so named due to the initial disappearance of Google My Business organic listings “playing possum” in the search results thanks to new filters.
Individual impacts of the update were difficult to determine, as another unconfirmed update appeared to roll out at the same time, shaking up the organic search results.
May 2016 Mobile-Friendly Update
On May 12, Google announced that it had officially rolled out significant changes to its update mobile search results, designed to increase the effect of its ranking signal helping users find relevant and mobile-friendly pages in the SERPs.
This update was the second in a two-part series initially launched on April 21, 2015.
January 2016 Final Panda Algorithm Update
Originally launched in February 2011, the Panda update was confirmed to be officially incorporated into the Google core algorithm for good in January 2016.
The initiative’s overall goal: Lower the rankings of what Google deemed “low-quality sites” or “thin sites,” and bring higher-quality sites closer to the top of the search results.
You can read about the full history of the Panda update in this timeline from Search Engine Journal.
2015
October 2015 RankBrain
On Oct. 26, 2015, Google officially announced the incorporation of RankBrain into the search algorithm after its initial testing period that rolled out in April of the same year.
RankBrain is a machine learning algorithm that filters Google search results to help give users the best answer to their query. Industry experts have called it the third most important ranking signal in Google’s arsenal.
May 2015 Core Update
On May 19, 2015, Google confirmed the rollout of another core algorithm update. Nicknamed by industry experts as “The Quality Update,” the update directly impacted the part of the search algorithm that helps Google measure site quality.
The update was estimated to have rolled out during the first week of May, although Google did not confirm the changes until a few weeks later.
April 2015 Mobile-Friendly Update
On April 21, 2015, Google announced the first in a series of updates aimed at improving the search experience for mobile users, nicknamed “Mobilegeddon” by SEO industry leaders.
The update, which expanded the use of mobile-friendliness as a Google ranking signal, affected all languages worldwide.
Learn More About Google Algorithm Update History
For further reading on Google’s major algorithm updates, we recommend the following resources:
https://www.goinflow.com/blog/google-algorithm-update-history-timeline/
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