GOOGLE
ALGORITHM
UPDATES
AND TIMELINE
Google changes its search algorithm about 500-600 times every year. While most of these have little impact, Google occasionally releases major algorithm updates like Penguin and Panda, and the updates noticeably alter search results. For marketers interested in SEO, knowing the release dates of Google updates; It can help explain changes in rankings and organic site traffic and improve search engine optimization strategies. Below, we have listed the algorithm changes that have great effects on the search engine, based on the information provided by Moz.
All Updates from Past to Present
2021-07-01
July 2021 Kernel Update
confirmed
The July 2021 Core Algorithm Update was released from July 1-12. Google did not offer much information about the details of the update.
– Google July 2021 core update rolling out now (SEL)
– Google July 2021 core update is finished rolling out (SEL)
2021-06-23
Anonymous Spam Update
confirmed
Google’s Danny Sullivan has confirmed that an algorithm update targeting spam is rolling out to search results pages. Google regularly releases spam updates to keep the quality of its search results at a high level.
– Google Search releases spam update on June 23 (SEL)
– Part two of Google Search spam update on June 28 rolling out (SEL)
2021-06-15
Page Experience Update
confirmed
Google has confirmed that the long-awaited Page Experience update is rolling out. In its statement, Google stated that “Page experience will not fully take over as part of these systems until the end of August.”
– More time, tools, and details on the page experience update (Google)
2021-06-02
June 2021 Kernel Update
confirmed
Google has released a new core algorithm update (Broad Core Update). The update sequence reportedly started on June 2 and continued until the 12th.
– Google Core Update June/July 2021: All the info on Google’s summer updates (Searchmetrics)
– Google June 2021 core update finished rolling out June 12th (SEL)
2021-04-08
Product Reviews Update
confirmed
With this new ranking algorithm update, it is aimed to reward product contents that provide in-depth reviews instead of weak contents that summarize several products in a cursory manner. Google has announced that this update only includes reviews written in English for now.
– What creators should know about Google’s product reviews update (Google)
– Google’s Product Reviews Algorithm Update: Winners & Losers (SEJ)
2021-03-12
Featured Snippet Improvement
unconfirmed
After almost 40% of Featured Snippets mysteriously disappeared from search engine results, it was seen that they returned to their old places with the same mystery. Google has not made any statement.
– Featured Snippets: Not Gone, Just on Holiday (Moz)
2021-02-19
Featured Snippet Drop
unconfirmed
MozCast saw a daily drop of 40% in Featured Snippets on search engine results pages, the biggest drop since 2015. When examined in more detail, it was seen that this predominantly affected short queries (especially 1-word queries) and disproportionately YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) queries (health and finance).
– Featured Snippets Drop to Historic Lows (Moz)
– Google Search may be showing featured snippets less often (SEL)
2021-02-10
Passage Indexing (US/English)
confirmed
Google has released the “pass indexing” update for US/English queries. Google stated that when this update is completed, it will affect 7% of queries in all languages.
– Google passage ranking now live in US English search results (SEL)
– How AI is powering a more helpful Google (Google)
2020-12-17
Anonymous Update
unconfirmed
One day after Google announced that the December Core Algorithm Update series would end, MozCast measured a ranking fluctuation in average height. It is not yet clear whether the latest update is the last step of the update series in question or an individual, medium-sized update.
– Google December 2020 Core Update Is Complete (SER)
2020-12-03
December 2020 Core Algorithm Update
confirmed
Google has announced a quickly released Core Update that will make its real impact on December 3. This was limited, although some sites reported a regression after a few days.
– Google’s December 2020 Core Update: By the Numbers (Moz)
2020-10-12
Indexing Error, Part 2
confirmed
Google claimed that most of the indexing and canonicalization errors were fixed as of October 14.
– Is There A Google Search Ranking Update Or More Indexing Issues & Fixes? (SER)
2020-
