Free tool · SEO · refreshed hourly
Google Algorithm Update Tracker: is Google updating right now?
Right now
No announced ranking update is rolling out
Latest confirmed update
September 2026 spam update
Started 24 Sept 2026, completed 8 Oct 2026
Latest core update
May 2026 core update
Started 21 May 2026, completed 2 Jun 2026
Confirmed ranking updates per year
- Spam update
- Core update
- Discover update
- Ranking issue
- Reviews update
- Helpful content
- Other ranking update
Every confirmed ranking update
- Spam updateCompleted
September 2026 spam update
Started · ended · 14 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Spam updateCompleted
August 2026 spam update
Started · ended · 3 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Spam updateCompleted
June 2026 spam update
Started · ended · 2 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Core updateCompleted
May 2026 core update
Started · ended · 12 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Core updateCompleted
March 2026 core update
Started · ended · 12 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Spam updateCompleted
March 2026 spam update
Started · ended · 1 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Discover updateCompleted
February 2026 Discover update
Started · ended · 22 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Core updateCompleted
December 2025 core update
Started · ended · 18 days
Google's status post (opens in a new tab)Google's guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Spam updateCompleted
August 2025 spam update
Started · took 26 days, 15 hours
- Core updateCompleted
June 2025 core update
Started · took 16 days, 18 hours
- Core updateCompleted
March 2025 core update
Started · took 13 days, 21 hours
- Spam updateCompleted
December 2024 spam update
Started · took 7 days, 2 hours
- Core updateCompleted
December 2024 core update
Started · took 6 days, 4 hours
- Core updateCompleted
November 2024 core update
Started · took 23 days, 13 hours
- Ranking issueCompleted
Ranking is experiencing an ongoing issue.
Started · took 4 days, 11 hours
- Core updateCompleted
August 2024 core update
Started · took 19 days, 4 hours
- Spam updateCompleted
June 2024 spam update
Started · took 7 days, 1 hour
- Spam updateCompleted
March 2024 spam update
Started · took 14 days, 21 hours
- Core updateCompleted
March 2024 core update
Started · took 45 days
- Reviews updateCompleted
November 2023 reviews update
Started · took 29 days
- Core updateCompleted
November 2023 core update
Started · took 25 days, 21 hours
- Core updateCompleted
October 2023 core update
Started · took 13 days, 23 hours
- Ranking issueCompleted
Ranking is experiencing an ongoing issue
Started · took 26 days
- Spam updateCompleted
October 2023 spam update
Started · took 15 days, 12 hours
- Helpful contentCompleted
September 2023 helpful content update
Started · took 13 days, 11 hours
- Core updateCompleted
August 2023 core update
Started · took 16 days, 3 hours
- Reviews updateCompleted
April 2023 reviews update
Started · took 13 days, 2 hours
- Core updateCompleted
March 2023 core update
Started · took 13 days, 7 hours
- Reviews updateCompleted
February 2023 product reviews update
Started · took 14 days
- Spam updateCompleted
December 2022 link spam update
Started · took 29 days
- Helpful contentCompleted
December 2022 helpful content update
Started · took 38 days
- Spam updateCompleted
October 2022 spam update
Started · took 2 days
- Reviews updateCompleted
September 2022 product reviews update
Started · took 6 days
- Core updateCompleted
September 2022 core update
Started · took 14 days
- Helpful contentCompleted
August 2022 helpful content update
Started · took 15 days
- Reviews updateCompleted
July 2022 product reviews update
Started · took 6 days
- Core updateCompleted
May 2022 core update
Started · took 15 days
- Reviews updateCompleted
March 2022 product reviews update
Started · took 14 days
- Other ranking updateCompleted
Page experience update for desktop
Started · took 9 days
- Reviews updateCompleted
December 2021 product reviews update
Started · took 20 days
- Core updateCompleted
November 2021 core update
Started · took 13 days
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard, Ranking. Dates are shown as Google lists them (US Pacific time). Last checked .
Guide
How to use the tracker
Check the top box first
If an update is rolling out, it shows there with its start date. If not, you'll see the latest confirmed update and the latest core update.
Line it up with your traffic
Open Search Console's Performance report, set the dates to cover an update, and see whether your clicks changed from its start date.
Filter by type
Use the buttons to show only core updates, spam updates and so on. The type tells you what kind of problem to look for.
Read Google's own post
Each entry links to Google's status post, and where Google included one, to its guidance page. That's the most reliable description of what the update targeted.
What to do during and after each type of update
Core updates
During: wait. Rankings can move up and down several times while the update rolls out, so a drop on day three may be gone by day ten. Keep publishing and fixing as normal; don't rewrite the site in a panic.
After: compare the weeks after completion with the weeks before. Find which pages and which searches lost clicks. Then ask honest questions about those pages: are they the most useful result for that search, written by someone who knows the subject, and better than what now ranks above them? Recovery, if it comes, often shows at a later core update rather than straight away. My core update recovery guide goes through this step by step.
Spam updates
During: note the dates. Spam updates are often shorter than core updates.
After: if you lost traffic, read Google's spam policies and look for anything that fits: bought links, doorway pages that swap only the city name, scaled pages with little original content, or expired-domain tricks. Fix the cause rather than waiting. Google says improvements can take months to be recognised.
Helpful content updates
Google ran these as separate updates in 2022 and 2023, then folded the helpful content system into its core ranking systems in 2024. So for drops today, treat it like a core update: look at whether pages were written for people or mainly for search engines.
If you see an old helpful content update lined up with a drop in your history, that is still a useful clue about which pages to rework.
Reviews, Discover and other updates
Reviews updates affect product and service review content. Show real use, original photos and measurements, and say what you tested. Discover updates only affect the Discover feed, so check the Discover report in Search Console, not web search. Ranking issues are incidents Google reported and fixed; they aren't quality reassessments.
Worked example: was it the update or something else?
Say your organic clicks fall by a third in one week, and an update is listed as rolling out. It is tempting to blame it, but I check the boring causes first, because they are easier to fix and easy to miss:
- Did anything change on the site? A redesign, new URLs, a plugin update or a hosting move. Missing redirects look exactly like an algorithm drop.
- Is it every page, or a few? A site-wide drop on one day points to a technical problem. A drop spread over the rollout, on certain pages, points to the update.
- Can Google still index the pages? Run the main URLs through the indexing checker. A stray noindex or robots.txt rule will show up straight away, and a one-page SEO audit catches template changes such as a lost H1 or canonical.
- Did demand change? Seasonal businesses, like limo companies around prom and wedding season, see real swings that have nothing to do with Google.
- Only then do I treat it as an update, and wait for the rollout to finish before deciding what to change.
Mistakes people make around updates
- Making big changes in the middle of a rollout, then not knowing what caused what.
- Blaming every drop on an update without checking for technical problems first.
- Comparing one day before with one day after, instead of whole weeks.
- Deleting lots of pages at once. Improve, merge and redirect instead.
- Trusting rumours of updates that Google never confirmed.
- Expecting recovery within days. It usually takes much longer.
My tips for living with algorithm updates
Keep a change log
Write down every change you make to the site and when. When something moves, you can tell whether it was you or Google. I do this for every SEO client.
Annotate your reports
Mark update dates in your analytics or reporting tool. Patterns become obvious after a few updates.
Build pages that deserve to win
The sites that ride out updates best are the ones with real expertise, first-hand detail and a clear author. That's harder than a quick fix, and it lasts.
Don't rely on one channel
If organic traffic is your only source of leads, every update is a risk. A small, well-run Google Ads campaign can keep enquiries steady while SEO recovers.
Need help working out what an update did to your site? That is a big part of my technical SEO work.
FAQ
Google update questions
Is Google updating right now?
The box at the top of this page answers that. If Google has an announced ranking update rolling out, it shows here as "rolling out" with its start date. The page checks Google’s Search Status Dashboard every hour.
Where does this data come from?
Only from Google’s official Search Status Dashboard at status.search.google.com: its incidents feed for recent updates and its Ranking history page for older ones. I don’t add rumoured or unconfirmed updates.
How long does a Google core update take to roll out?
Google usually says up to two weeks, and many finish in about that time, but some have taken longer. The list shows the real start and end dates, or the duration Google reports, for each one.
Why don’t I see every update the SEO news sites talk about?
Google makes changes to ranking constantly and only announces some of them. This tracker sticks to the ones Google confirmed on its dashboard. Big unconfirmed swings are worth noting, but they are not the same thing.
When was the last Google algorithm update?
It is the first item in the list below. Each entry shows when it started, when Google marked it complete, and a link to Google’s own status post.
Should I change my site while an update is rolling out?
Usually not. Rankings move around during a rollout, so you can’t tell what the update did until it finishes. Keep doing normal work, and do the analysis once Google marks it complete.
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Lost traffic after an update?
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