{ "name": "Google Search update timeline", "canonicalUrl": "https://searchdecoded.co.uk/labs/google-search-update-timeline/", "version": "1.5.0", "firstPublished": "2026-08-13", "lastEditorialReview": "2026-08-19", "contentLastChangedAt": "2026-08-21T09:33:00.440Z", "officialFeedLastCheckedAt": "2026-09-12T13:21:34.041Z", "licence": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "searchDecoded: Google Search update timeline" }, "entries": [ { "id": "august-2026-spam-update", "sourceIncidentId": "LEubPCm2octf2uMqCFKE", "title": "August 2026 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2026-08-18", "endDate": "2026-08-21", "summary": "Google confirmed this spam update rolled out from 2026-08-18 to 2026-08-21.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the August 2026 spam update from 18 August 2026 to 21 August 2026, a period of about 3 days. Google said it applied globally and across all languages. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "confirmedScope": [ "Global", "All languages" ], "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Spam update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the August 2026 spam update , which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "August 2026 spam update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/LEubPCm2octf2uMqCFKE", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-08-21T08:50:34+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-19", "lastVerified": "2026-08-21", "sourceLastModified": "2026-08-21T08:50:34+00:00" } }, { "id": "june-2026-spam-update", "sourceIncidentId": "YUX1peHev5a4fkxLDiUQ", "title": "June 2026 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2026-06-24", "endDate": "2026-06-26", "summary": "Google confirmed this spam update rolled out from 2026-06-24 to 2026-06-26.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the June 2026 spam update from 24 June 2026 to 26 June 2026, a period of about 2 days. Google said it applied globally and across all languages. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "confirmedScope": [ "Global", "All languages" ], "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Spam update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the June 2026 spam update , which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "June 2026 spam update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/YUX1peHev5a4fkxLDiUQ", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-06-26T17:58:18+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-06-26", "sourceLastModified": "2026-06-26T17:58:18+00:00" } }, { "id": "may-2026-core-update", "sourceIncidentId": "wdAXJk6LRRihEjpzEeWE", "title": "May 2026 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2026-05-21", "endDate": "2026-06-02", "summary": "Google confirmed this core update rolled out from 2026-05-21 to 2026-06-02.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the May 2026 core update from 21 May 2026 to 2 June 2026, a period of about 12 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Core update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the May 2026 core update . The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "May 2026 core update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/wdAXJk6LRRihEjpzEeWE", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-06-02T12:44:24+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-06-02", "sourceLastModified": "2026-06-02T12:44:24+00:00" } }, { "id": "march-2026-core-update", "sourceIncidentId": "7eTbAa2jWdToLkraZj5y", "title": "March 2026 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2026-03-27", "endDate": "2026-04-08", "summary": "Google confirmed this core update rolled out from 2026-03-27 to 2026-04-08.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2026 core update from 27 March 2026 to 8 April 2026, a period of about 12 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Core update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the March 2026 core update . The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "March 2026 core update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/7eTbAa2jWdToLkraZj5y", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-04-08T13:12:36+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-04-08", "sourceLastModified": "2026-04-08T13:12:36+00:00" } }, { "id": "march-2026-spam-update", "sourceIncidentId": "VbnSXAH4SmEcxPtx4YSD", "title": "March 2026 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2026-03-24", "endDate": "2026-03-25", "summary": "Google confirmed this spam update rolled out from 2026-03-24 to 2026-03-25.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2026 spam update from 24 March 2026 to 25 March 2026, a period of approximately 19½ hours. Google said it applied globally and across all languages. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "confirmedScope": [ "Global", "All languages" ], "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Spam update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the March 2026 spam update , which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "March 2026 spam update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/VbnSXAH4SmEcxPtx4YSD", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-03-25T14:39:46+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-03-25", "sourceLastModified": "2026-03-25T14:39:46+00:00" } }, { "id": "december-2025-core-update", "sourceIncidentId": "DsirqJ1gpPRgVQeccPRv", "title": "December 2025 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2025-12-11", "endDate": "2025-12-29", "summary": "Google confirmed this core update rolled out from 2025-12-11 to 2025-12-29.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2025 core update from 11 December 2025 to 29 December 2025, a period of about 18 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Core update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the December 2025 core update . The rollout may take up to 3 weeks to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "December 2025 core update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/DsirqJ1gpPRgVQeccPRv", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2025-12-29T19:05:57+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2025-12-29", "sourceLastModified": "2025-12-29T19:05:57+00:00" } }, { "id": "august-2025-spam-update", "sourceIncidentId": "a7Aainy6E9rZsmfq82xt", "title": "August 2025 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2025-08-26", "endDate": "2025-09-22", "summary": "Google confirmed this spam update rolled out from 2025-08-26 to 2025-09-22.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the August 2025 spam update from 26 August 2025 to 22 September 2025, a period of about 27 days. Google said it applied globally and across all languages. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "confirmedScope": [ "Global", "All languages" ], "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "tags": [ "Spam update", "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard" ], "googleConfirmation": "Released the August 2025 spam update , which applies globally and to all languages. The rollout may take a few weeks to complete.", "sources": [ { "title": "August 2025 spam update — Google Search Status Dashboard", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/incidents/a7Aainy6E9rZsmfq82xt", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "sourceUpdatedAt": "2025-09-22T06:14:57+00:00", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "automated-google-feed", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2025-09-22", "sourceLastModified": "2025-09-22T06:14:57+00:00" } }, { "id": "june-2025-core-update", "title": "June 2025 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2025-06-30", "endDate": "2025-07-17", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the June 2025 core update from 2025-06-30 to 2025-07-17.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the June 2025 core update from 30 June 2025 to 17 July 2025, a period of about 17 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the June 2025 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "march-2025-core-update", "title": "March 2025 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2025-03-13", "endDate": "2025-03-27", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the March 2025 core update from 2025-03-13 to 2025-03-27.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2025 core update from 13 March 2025 to 27 March 2025, a period of about 14 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the March 2025 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "ai-mode-2025", "title": "AI Mode introduced", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "ai-search", "startDate": "2025-03-05", "summary": "Google introduced an experimental AI Mode for more complex, conversational and multi-part searches.", "explanation": "AI Mode uses a custom Gemini model and a query fan-out technique to explore related searches before composing a response with links.", "whyItMattered": "It extended Search from a conventional results page towards a conversational research experience. People could ask multi-part questions, continue with follow-ups and inspect linked sources within one exploratory search flow.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "AI Mode", "Gemini", "query fan-out" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/ai-mode-search/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "december-2024-spam-update", "title": "December 2024 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2024-12-19", "endDate": "2024-12-26", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the December 2024 spam update from 2024-12-19 to 2024-12-26.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2024 spam update from 19 December 2024 to 26 December 2024, a period of about 7 days. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the December 2024 spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "december-2024-core-update", "title": "December 2024 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2024-12-12", "endDate": "2024-12-18", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the December 2024 core update from 2024-12-12 to 2024-12-18.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2024 core update from 12 December 2024 to 18 December 2024, a period of about 6 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the December 2024 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "november-2024-core-update", "title": "November 2024 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2024-11-11", "endDate": "2024-12-05", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the November 2024 core update from 2024-11-11 to 2024-12-05.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the November 2024 core update from 11 November 2024 to 5 December 2024, a period of about 24 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the November 2024 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "august-2024-core-update", "title": "August 2024 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2024-08-15", "endDate": "2024-09-03", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the August 2024 core update from 2024-08-15 to 2024-09-03.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the August 2024 core update from 15 August 2024 to 3 September 2024, a period of about 19 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the August 2024 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "june-2024-spam-update", "title": "June 2024 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2024-06-20", "endDate": "2024-06-27", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the June 2024 spam update from 2024-06-20 to 2024-06-27.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the June 2024 spam update from 20 June 2024 to 27 June 2024, a period of about 7 days. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the June 2024 spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "ai-overviews-2024", "title": "AI Overviews launch in the US", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "ai-search", "startDate": "2024-05-14", "summary": "Google launched AI Overviews in US Search results after testing the experience in Search Labs.", "explanation": "AI Overviews generate a summary for some queries and provide links for exploring information from the web.", "whyItMattered": "It changed the shape of the results page and how people could encounter publishers, sources and answers.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "AI Overviews", "generative AI", "Search experience" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Generative AI in Search: Let Google do the searching for you", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "march-2024-spam-update", "title": "March 2024 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2024-03-05", "endDate": "2024-03-20", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the March 2024 spam update from 2024-03-05 to 2024-03-20.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2024 spam update from 5 March 2024 to 20 March 2024, a period of about 15 days. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the March 2024 spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "march-2024-core-update", "title": "March 2024 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2024-03-05", "endDate": "2024-04-19", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the March 2024 core update from 2024-03-05 to 2024-04-19.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2024 core update from 5 March 2024 to 19 April 2024, a period of about 45 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the March 2024 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "november-2023-reviews-update", "title": "November 2023 reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2023-11-08", "endDate": "2023-12-07", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the November 2023 reviews update from 2023-11-08 to 2023-12-07.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the November 2023 reviews update from 8 November 2023 to 7 December 2023, a period of about 29 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the November 2023 reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "november-2023-core-update", "title": "November 2023 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2023-11-02", "endDate": "2023-11-28", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the November 2023 core update from 2023-11-02 to 2023-11-28.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the November 2023 core update from 2 November 2023 to 28 November 2023, a period of about 26 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the November 2023 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "october-2023-core-update", "title": "October 2023 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2023-10-05", "endDate": "2023-10-19", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the October 2023 core update from 2023-10-05 to 2023-10-19.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the October 2023 core update from 5 October 2023 to 19 October 2023, a period of about 14 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the October 2023 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "october-2023-spam-update", "title": "October 2023 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2023-10-04", "endDate": "2023-10-20", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the October 2023 spam update from 2023-10-04 to 2023-10-20.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the October 2023 spam update from 4 October 2023 to 20 October 2023, a period of about 16 days. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the October 2023 spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "september-2023-helpful-content-update", "title": "September 2023 helpful content update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2023-09-14", "endDate": "2023-09-28", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the September 2023 helpful content update from 2023-09-14 to 2023-09-28.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the September 2023 helpful content update from 14 September 2023 to 28 September 2023, a period of about 14 days. Google identified the affected system as its helpful content system, designed to give more visibility to content made for people and less to content produced primarily to attract search traffic.", "whyItMattered": "The named focus made this more specific than a general core update: it concerned whether a site’s content demonstrated a useful, people-first purpose. Google later incorporated this system into its core ranking systems.", "targetedPractices": [ "Content made primarily to attract search traffic rather than help people" ], "detailDisclosure": "specific", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "ranking-systems" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the September 2023 helpful content update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "august-2023-core-update", "title": "August 2023 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2023-08-22", "endDate": "2023-09-07", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the August 2023 core update from 2023-08-22 to 2023-09-07.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the August 2023 core update from 22 August 2023 to 7 September 2023, a period of about 16 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the August 2023 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "sge-2023", "title": "Search Generative Experience opens in Search Labs", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "ai-search", "startDate": "2023-05-25", "dateNote": "SGE was an opt-in US experiment at launch, not a general ranking update or a universal Search rollout.", "summary": "Google opened access to an experimental generative AI experience inside Search Labs.", "explanation": "Search Generative Experience, or SGE, produced AI-generated snapshots, supporting links and conversational follow-up options for some searches.", "whyItMattered": "It was the direct experimental precursor to AI Overviews and marked Google’s first public integration of generative answers into Search.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "SGE", "Search Labs", "generative AI", "AI Overviews" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Three new ways generative AI can help you search", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/search-generative-ai-tips/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "april-2023-reviews-update", "title": "April 2023 reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2023-04-12", "endDate": "2023-04-25", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the April 2023 reviews update from 2023-04-12 to 2023-04-25.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the April 2023 reviews update from 12 April 2023 to 25 April 2023, a period of about 13 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the April 2023 reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "march-2023-core-update", "title": "March 2023 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2023-03-15", "endDate": "2023-03-28", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the March 2023 core update from 2023-03-15 to 2023-03-28.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2023 core update from 15 March 2023 to 28 March 2023, a period of about 13 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the March 2023 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "february-2023-product-reviews-update", "title": "February 2023 product reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2023-02-21", "endDate": "2023-03-07", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the February 2023 product reviews update from 2023-02-21 to 2023-03-07.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the February 2023 product reviews update from 21 February 2023 to 7 March 2023, a period of about 14 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Product review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the February 2023 product reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "december-2022-link-spam-update", "title": "December 2022 link spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2022-12-14", "endDate": "2023-01-12", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the December 2022 link spam update from 2022-12-14 to 2023-01-12.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2022 link spam update from 14 December 2022 to 12 January 2023, a period of about 29 days. Google identified this specifically as a link spam update, concerning links created or used to manipulate search rankings. It did not identify individual sites, page types or industries.", "whyItMattered": "Unlike a general spam update, the stated focus was the effect of manipulative links. When Google neutralises those links, any ranking benefit they previously passed can be lost rather than restored through a later reconsideration of the same links.", "targetedPractices": [ "Link spam" ], "detailDisclosure": "specific", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the December 2022 link spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "december-2022-helpful-content-update", "title": "December 2022 helpful content update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2022-12-05", "endDate": "2023-01-12", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the December 2022 helpful content update from 2022-12-05 to 2023-01-12.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2022 helpful content update from 5 December 2022 to 12 January 2023, a period of about 38 days. Google identified the affected system as its helpful content system, designed to give more visibility to content made for people and less to content produced primarily to attract search traffic.", "whyItMattered": "The named focus made this more specific than a general core update: it concerned whether a site’s content demonstrated a useful, people-first purpose. Google later incorporated this system into its core ranking systems.", "targetedPractices": [ "Content made primarily to attract search traffic rather than help people" ], "detailDisclosure": "specific", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "ranking-systems" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the December 2022 helpful content update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "october-2022-spam-update", "title": "October 2022 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2022-10-19", "endDate": "2022-10-21", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the October 2022 spam update from 2022-10-19 to 2022-10-21.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the October 2022 spam update from 19 October 2022 to 21 October 2022, a period of about 2 days. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the October 2022 spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "september-2022-product-reviews-update", "title": "September 2022 product reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2022-09-20", "endDate": "2022-09-26", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the September 2022 product reviews update from 2022-09-20 to 2022-09-26.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the September 2022 product reviews update from 20 September 2022 to 26 September 2022, a period of about 6 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Product review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the September 2022 product reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "september-2022-core-update", "title": "September 2022 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2022-09-12", "endDate": "2022-09-26", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the September 2022 core update from 2022-09-12 to 2022-09-26.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the September 2022 core update from 12 September 2022 to 26 September 2022, a period of about 14 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the September 2022 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "helpful-content-system-2022", "title": "Helpful content system", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2022-08-25", "endDate": "2022-09-09", "dateNote": "Google incorporated this system into its core ranking systems in March 2024, so it is no longer announced as a separate periodic update.", "summary": "Google introduced a site-wide signal intended to better reward content made primarily to help people.", "explanation": "The system aimed to reduce the visibility of content produced mainly to attract search visits without satisfying the visitor.", "whyItMattered": "It made people-first purpose, first-hand usefulness and audience fit central themes in Google’s public guidance.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "helpful content", "content quality" ], "sources": [ { "title": "More content by people, for people in Search", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/helpful-content-update", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "july-2022-product-reviews-update", "title": "July 2022 product reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2022-07-27", "endDate": "2022-08-02", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the July 2022 product reviews update from 2022-07-27 to 2022-08-02.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the July 2022 product reviews update from 27 July 2022 to 2 August 2022, a period of about 6 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Product review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the July 2022 product reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "may-2022-core-update", "title": "May 2022 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2022-05-25", "endDate": "2022-06-09", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the May 2022 core update from 2022-05-25 to 2022-06-09.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the May 2022 core update from 25 May 2022 to 9 June 2022, a period of about 15 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the May 2022 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "march-2022-product-reviews-update", "title": "March 2022 product reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2022-03-23", "endDate": "2022-04-06", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the March 2022 product reviews update from 2022-03-23 to 2022-04-06.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the March 2022 product reviews update from 23 March 2022 to 6 April 2022, a period of about 14 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Product review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the March 2022 product reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "page-experience-update-for-desktop", "title": "Page experience update for desktop", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2022-02-22", "endDate": "2022-03-03", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the Page experience update for desktop from 2022-02-22 to 2022-03-03.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the Page experience update for desktop from 22 February 2022 to 3 March 2022, a period of about 9 days. Google identified this as the desktop rollout of page experience signals, extending considerations already used in mobile Search to desktop results.", "whyItMattered": "The rollout made desktop page experience part of Google’s ranking considerations while leaving relevance as the stronger concern. It did not mean that technical performance alone could make an irrelevant page rank.", "targetedPractices": [ "Desktop page experience signals" ], "detailDisclosure": "specific", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "ranking-systems" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the Page experience update for desktop in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "december-2021-product-reviews-update", "title": "December 2021 product reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2021-12-01", "endDate": "2021-12-21", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the December 2021 product reviews update from 2021-12-01 to 2021-12-21.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2021 product reviews update from 1 December 2021 to 21 December 2021, a period of about 20 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Product review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the December 2021 product reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "november-2021-core-update", "title": "November 2021 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2021-11-17", "endDate": "2021-11-30", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the November 2021 core update from 2021-11-17 to 2021-11-30.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the November 2021 core update from 17 November 2021 to 30 November 2021, a period of about 13 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the November 2021 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "november-2021-spam-update", "title": "November 2021 spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2021-11-03", "endDate": "2021-11-11", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the November 2021 spam update from 2021-11-03 to 2021-11-11.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the November 2021 spam update from 3 November 2021 to 11 November 2021, a period of about 8 days. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the November 2021 spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "july-2021-link-spam-update", "title": "July 2021 link spam update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2021-07-26", "endDate": "2021-08-24", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the July 2021 link spam update from 2021-07-26 to 2021-08-24.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the July 2021 link spam update from 26 July 2021 to 24 August 2021, a period of about 29 days. Google identified this specifically as a link spam update, concerning links created or used to manipulate search rankings. It did not identify individual sites, page types or industries.", "whyItMattered": "Unlike a general spam update, the stated focus was the effect of manipulative links. When Google neutralises those links, any ranking benefit they previously passed can be lost rather than restored through a later reconsideration of the same links.", "targetedPractices": [ "Link spam" ], "detailDisclosure": "specific", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the July 2021 link spam update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "july-2021-core-update", "title": "July 2021 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2021-07-01", "endDate": "2021-07-12", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the July 2021 core update from 2021-07-01 to 2021-07-12.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the July 2021 core update from 1 July 2021 to 12 July 2021, a period of about 11 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the July 2021 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "june-2021-spam-update-second-rollout", "title": "June 2021 spam update (second rollout)", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2021-06-28", "endDate": "2021-06-29", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the June 2021 spam update (second rollout) from 2021-06-28 to 2021-06-29.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the June 2021 spam update (second rollout) from 28 June 2021 to 29 June 2021, a period of about 1 day. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the June 2021 spam update (second rollout) in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "june-2021-spam-update-first-rollout", "title": "June 2021 spam update (first rollout)", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "spam", "startDate": "2021-06-23", "endDate": "2021-06-24", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the June 2021 spam update (first rollout) from 2021-06-23 to 2021-06-24.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the June 2021 spam update (first rollout) from 23 June 2021 to 24 June 2021, a period of about 1 day. Google did not identify particular spam practices, page types, industries or components of its spam-detection systems targeted by this rollout.", "whyItMattered": "This was a confirmed change to the automated systems Google uses to detect violations of its spam policies. As Google did not name a specific spam category for this rollout, it should be treated as a broad spam-system update rather than evidence that one particular tactic was targeted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "spam" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the June 2021 spam update (first rollout) in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "page-experience-2021", "title": "Page experience update for mobile", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2021-06-15", "endDate": "2021-09-02", "summary": "Google rolled page experience signals, including Core Web Vitals, into its mobile ranking systems.", "explanation": "The update brought loading performance, responsiveness and visual stability into a wider set of page experience considerations.", "whyItMattered": "It connected measurable user-experience signals with ranking, while Google stressed that relevance remained more important.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "page experience", "Core Web Vitals", "mobile" ], "sources": [ { "title": "More time, tools, and details on the page experience update", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/more-details-page-experience", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "june-2021-core-update", "title": "June 2021 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2021-06-02", "endDate": "2021-06-12", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the June 2021 core update from 2021-06-02 to 2021-06-12.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the June 2021 core update from 2 June 2021 to 12 June 2021, a period of about 10 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the June 2021 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "mum-2021", "title": "MUM announced", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2021-05-18", "dateNote": "A technology milestone rather than one dated algorithm update affecting every result at once.", "summary": "Google announced the Multitask Unified Model, or MUM, for understanding complex information across language and media.", "explanation": "MUM was presented as a technology for handling complex tasks and transferring understanding across languages and formats.", "whyItMattered": "It showed the direction of travel towards multimodal, multi-step search experiences, although it was not announced as one single ranking rollout.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "MUM", "multimodal", "AI" ], "sources": [ { "title": "MUM: A new AI milestone for understanding information", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/introducing-mum/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "april-2021-product-reviews-update", "title": "April 2021 product reviews update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "reviews", "startDate": "2021-04-08", "endDate": "2021-04-22", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the April 2021 product reviews update from 2021-04-08 to 2021-04-22.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the April 2021 product reviews update from 8 April 2021 to 22 April 2021, a period of about 14 days. Google identified the affected area as its reviews systems, which are intended to reward original, useful reviews that demonstrate knowledge and first-hand experience. It did not identify individual sites or industries.", "whyItMattered": "The update was most relevant to sites publishing review content because it changed how Google’s systems evaluated that material. It was not presented as a general reassessment of every kind of page.", "targetedPractices": [ "Product review content" ], "detailDisclosure": "general", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "reviews" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the April 2021 product reviews update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "passage-ranking-2021", "title": "Passage ranking", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2021-02-10", "summary": "Google began using passages from a page as an additional signal for understanding relevance.", "explanation": "The system could identify that one section of a long page answered a query even when the page as a whole covered a broader subject.", "whyItMattered": "It improved Google’s ability to surface specific answers from substantial pages without indexing passages as separate documents.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "passage ranking", "relevance" ], "sources": [ { "title": "How AI is powering a more helpful Google", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/search-on/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "december-2020-core-update", "title": "December 2020 core update", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "core", "startDate": "2020-12-03", "endDate": "2020-12-16", "summary": "Google recorded the rollout of the December 2020 core update from 2020-12-03 to 2020-12-16.", "explanation": "Google rolled out the December 2020 core update from 3 December 2020 to 16 December 2020, a period of about 13 days. Google described it as a broad update to its ranking systems and did not publish a checklist of ranking factors, page types or industries that changed.", "whyItMattered": "Core updates can alter how Google’s systems assess relevance and quality across many kinds of search. Because Google did not name individual factors for this rollout, the event is best understood as a broad systems change rather than evidence that one particular signal was adjusted.", "detailDisclosure": "not-disclosed", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": false, "tags": [ "Google-confirmed", "Search Status Dashboard", "core" ], "googleConfirmation": "Google listed the start, completion and duration of the December 2020 core update in the Ranking incident history.", "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search Status Dashboard — Ranking history", "url": "https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history", "type": "google-status-dashboard" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "bert-2019", "title": "BERT", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2019-10-25", "summary": "Google introduced BERT in Search to understand the context of words within queries more accurately.", "explanation": "BERT analyses words in relation to the words around them, which can help with conversational or nuanced searches.", "whyItMattered": "Google described it as one of the biggest advances in Search and said it would affect one in ten English-language queries in the US.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "BERT", "language understanding", "AI" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Understanding searches better than ever before", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/search-language-understanding-bert/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "neural-matching-2018", "title": "Neural matching", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2018-09-24", "dateNote": "Google publicly described neural matching in September 2018; it did not present one universal rollout window.", "summary": "Google introduced a neural-network system for matching the concepts represented by queries and pages.", "explanation": "Neural matching helps Search connect broader conceptual meanings even when the page does not contain the exact words used in the query.", "whyItMattered": "It filled an important step between RankBrain and BERT in Google’s use of artificial intelligence to retrieve and understand information.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "neural matching", "AI", "concepts", "retrieval" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Improving Search for the next 20 years", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/improving-search-next-20-years/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "speed-update-2018", "title": "Speed Update for mobile search", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2018-07-09", "summary": "Google extended page speed as a ranking consideration to mobile searches.", "explanation": "The update was designed to affect pages delivering the slowest experiences, while search intent and relevance could still outweigh speed.", "whyItMattered": "It made mobile performance an explicit ranking concern before Core Web Vitals became part of the wider page experience work.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Speed Update", "mobile", "performance" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Using page speed in mobile search ranking", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2018/01/using-page-speed-in-mobile-search", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "mobile-first-indexing-2018", "title": "Mobile-first indexing begins broad rollout", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "milestone", "startDate": "2018-03-26", "summary": "Google began notifying more sites that it would primarily use the mobile version of their content for indexing and ranking.", "explanation": "The mobile version became Google’s main reference for understanding many sites, reflecting the way most people were searching.", "whyItMattered": "Sites could no longer treat mobile content as a secondary or reduced version without search consequences.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "mobile-first indexing", "indexing", "mobile" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Rolling out mobile-first indexing", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2018/03/rolling-out-mobile-first-indexing", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "intrusive-interstitials-2017", "title": "Intrusive mobile interstitials signal", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2017-01-10", "summary": "Google began applying a ranking signal to mobile pages whose main content was obscured by intrusive interstitials.", "explanation": "The change focused on overlays and standalone interruptions that made content difficult to access after a person selected a mobile search result.", "whyItMattered": "It made immediate access to the promised content part of Google’s mobile search-quality considerations.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "interstitials", "mobile", "page experience" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Helping users easily access content on mobile", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2016/08/helping-users-easily-access-content-on", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "rankbrain-2015", "title": "RankBrain", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2015-10-26", "dateNote": "Publicly confirmed on this date; Google said the system had already been in use for several months.", "summary": "Google confirmed that a machine-learning system called RankBrain was helping it interpret searches and rank results.", "explanation": "RankBrain helps Search understand how words relate to concepts, particularly for unfamiliar or ambiguous queries.", "whyItMattered": "It was a prominent early use of machine learning in Google’s core ranking process. Its role in interpreting unfamiliar and ambiguous searches showed how learned relationships between concepts could improve retrieval beyond fixed matching rules.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "RankBrain", "machine learning", "intent" ], "sources": [ { "title": "How AI powers great search results", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/how-ai-powers-great-search-results/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "mobile-friendly-2015", "title": "Mobile-friendly ranking signal", "eventType": "confirmed-update", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2015-04-21", "summary": "Google expanded its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal for searches on mobile devices.", "explanation": "Pages that worked well on smaller screens could receive a ranking advantage in relevant mobile results.", "whyItMattered": "It made mobile usability a direct search consideration before mobile-first indexing became the default.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "mobile", "page experience" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Rolling out the mobile-friendly update", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2015/04/rolling-out-mobile-friendly-update", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "https-ranking-signal-2014", "title": "HTTPS ranking signal", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2014-08-07", "summary": "Google began using secure HTTPS connections as a lightweight ranking signal.", "explanation": "The signal gave a small ranking consideration to pages delivered over an encrypted connection while other signals, including relevance and content quality, remained more influential.", "whyItMattered": "It connected web security with Search and helped accelerate the wider move from HTTP to HTTPS. Google deliberately introduced it as a lightweight signal, showing that security could influence ranking without outweighing relevance and content quality.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "HTTPS", "security", "ranking signal" ], "sources": [ { "title": "HTTPS as a ranking signal", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "hummingbird-2013", "title": "Hummingbird", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2013-08-01", "datePrecision": "month", "dateNote": "Google announced Hummingbird in September 2013 and said it had been in use for about a month.", "summary": "Hummingbird was a broad rewrite intended to understand the meaning of queries and pages more effectively.", "explanation": "It helped Search interpret conversational language and relationships between concepts instead of relying only on exact word matches.", "whyItMattered": "It marked a shift towards understanding intent and meaning across a whole query. That made Search better equipped to handle longer, conversational questions where the relationship between words mattered more than an exact phrase match.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Hummingbird", "semantic search", "intent" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Fifteen years on—and we’re just getting started", "url": "https://search.googleblog.com/2013/09/fifteen-years-onand-were-just-getting.html", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "exact-match-domain-2012", "title": "Exact match domain system", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2012-09-28", "dateNote": "Google publicly confirmed the 2012 change at the time; its current ranking-systems guide documents the continuing purpose of the system.", "summary": "Google introduced a system to prevent query-matching domain names from receiving too much ranking credit by themselves.", "explanation": "Words in a domain can still help Google understand relevance, but an exact match is only one signal and does not substitute for useful content.", "whyItMattered": "It reduced the advantage of acquiring keyword-heavy domains primarily to rank for the matching phrase.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "exact match domain", "domain names", "relevance" ], "sources": [ { "title": "A guide to Google Search ranking systems", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide#exact-match-domain-system", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "knowledge-graph-2012", "title": "Knowledge Graph", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2012-05-16", "summary": "Google introduced a system for understanding real-world entities and the relationships between them.", "explanation": "The Knowledge Graph let Search distinguish people, places and things that shared the same words, then surface connected facts and topics.", "whyItMattered": "It moved Search beyond matching strings of text and provided the foundation for knowledge panels and more entity-led results.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Knowledge Graph", "entities", "knowledge panels" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "penguin-2012", "title": "Penguin", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2012-04-24", "summary": "Google launched a webspam change aimed at sites using tactics such as keyword stuffing and manipulative linking.", "explanation": "Penguin targeted patterns that appeared to breach Google’s quality guidelines rather than simply rewarding the greatest volume of links.", "whyItMattered": "It raised the risk of artificial link-building and changed how businesses assessed link quality and penalties.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Penguin", "webspam", "links" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Another step to reward high-quality sites", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "venice-2012", "title": "Venice local-results change", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2012-02-01", "datePrecision": "month", "dateNote": "Google described Venice among changes published in February 2012, without giving a separate day-level rollout date.", "summary": "Google improved the way its main search rankings helped trigger and order locally relevant results.", "explanation": "The Venice change made a searcher’s location more useful when Google decided that a query had local intent.", "whyItMattered": "It strengthened the connection between conventional organic rankings and local search, before later local changes received industry nicknames.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Venice", "local search", "local intent" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Search quality highlights: 40 changes for February", "url": "https://search.googleblog.com/2012/02/search-quality-highlights-40-changes.html", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "page-layout-2012", "title": "Page Layout algorithm", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2012-01-19", "summary": "Google introduced a ranking change for pages where prominent advertising made the main content difficult to find.", "explanation": "The system considered what a visitor could see near the top of a page, rather than treating every use of above-the-fold advertising as a problem.", "whyItMattered": "It linked the visible page layout to ranking and gave publishers a reason to keep the main content immediately accessible.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Page Layout", "above the fold", "user experience" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Page layout algorithm improvement", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2012/01/page-layout-algorithm-improvement", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "freshness-2011", "title": "Freshness update", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2011-11-03", "summary": "Google made a significant ranking change to identify when a query called for newer information.", "explanation": "The freshness systems distinguish fast-moving events, recurring subjects and frequently changing information from queries where older material remains useful.", "whyItMattered": "Google said at least one result changed for about 35% of searches, while clarifying that the noticeably affected share was smaller.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "freshness", "query deserves freshness", "recent results" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Giving you fresher, more recent search results", "url": "https://search.googleblog.com/2011/11/giving-you-fresher-more-recent-search.html", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "panda-2011", "title": "Panda", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2011-02-24", "summary": "Google introduced a ranking change intended to reduce the visibility of low-quality sites and reward more useful, original content.", "explanation": "The system assessed site-level quality signals at scale. Google later incorporated Panda into its core ranking systems.", "whyItMattered": "Panda made overall content quality and originality a much more visible part of search performance discussions.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Panda", "content quality" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Finding more high-quality sites in search", "url": "https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html", "type": "google-blog" } ], "googleConfirmation": "Google said the change would noticeably affect 11.8% of US queries and was designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites.", "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "caffeine-2010", "title": "Caffeine indexing system", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "2010-06-08", "summary": "Google completed a new web indexing system that could add newly discovered information continuously.", "explanation": "Caffeine processed smaller portions of the web as they changed, replacing an older layered index that refreshed different sections at different speeds.", "whyItMattered": "It made substantially fresher results possible and provided the indexing foundation for a faster-moving web.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Caffeine", "indexing", "freshness" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Our new search index: Caffeine", "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine", "type": "google-search-central" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "universal-search-2007", "title": "Universal Search", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "milestone", "startDate": "2007-05-16", "summary": "Google began blending web pages, images, video, news, books and local information within one results page.", "explanation": "Universal Search selected relevant material across different Google indexes instead of requiring people to search each format separately.", "whyItMattered": "It changed the search results page from a list of web links into a mixed collection of formats and experiences.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Universal Search", "blended results", "search features" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Google Search: 25 of the biggest moments", "url": "https://blog.google/products/search/25-biggest-google-search-updates/", "type": "google-blog" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "bigdaddy-2006", "title": "Bigdaddy infrastructure rollout", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "milestone", "startDate": "2006-03-01", "datePrecision": "month", "dateNote": "Google engineer Matt Cutts described the data-centre migration as nearly complete in March 2006; no single completion day was published.", "summary": "Google moved Search onto infrastructure designed to improve how it handled redirects, canonical URLs and other indexing signals.", "explanation": "Bigdaddy was an infrastructure change rather than one isolated ranking algorithm. It changed the foundation on which later search-quality improvements could run.", "whyItMattered": "It was an early example of a large Search change affecting crawling and indexing architecture, not only the formula used to order results.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Bigdaddy", "indexing", "canonicalisation", "infrastructure" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Bigdaddy status update: almost there", "url": "https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/bigdaddy-status-update-almost-there/", "type": "google-representative" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "florida-2003", "title": "Florida update", "eventType": "search-milestone", "category": "milestone", "startDate": "2003-11-01", "datePrecision": "month", "dateNote": "Widely observed during November 2003; Google did not publish a precise rollout window.", "summary": "A major early ranking change, later commonly called Florida, reshaped many commercial search results.", "explanation": "Florida became an early example of a named update being used to investigate widespread ranking changes, even though modern dashboard-style confirmation did not yet exist.", "whyItMattered": "It changed how site owners thought about large-scale ranking changes and accelerated the move away from simplistic optimisation tactics.", "googleConfirmed": false, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "Florida", "early updates" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Google Florida: The First Major Algorithm Update", "url": "https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/florida-update/", "type": "industry-publication" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } }, { "id": "page-rank-1998", "title": "PageRank and the launch of Google", "eventType": "search-system", "category": "ranking-systems", "startDate": "1998-09-04", "datePrecision": "day", "summary": "Google launched with link analysis at the centre of its approach to ordering web pages.", "explanation": "PageRank treated links between pages as signals of importance, alongside the words and structure of the pages themselves.", "whyItMattered": "It helped Google return useful results from a rapidly growing web and made links a lasting part of how search visibility was understood.", "googleConfirmed": true, "historicalMilestone": true, "tags": [ "PageRank", "links", "Google launch" ], "sources": [ { "title": "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine", "url": "https://research.google/pubs/the-anatomy-of-a-large-scale-hypertextual-web-search-engine/", "type": "google-research" } ], "provenance": { "maintainedBy": "searchdecoded-editorial", "firstAdded": "2026-08-13", "lastVerified": "2026-08-13" } } ] }