Google Algorithm Updates: What Changed From 2018 to 2026, and What to Do Now

Summary

Google no longer ships a single named update each year. It runs two to four broad core updates, a few spam updates, and thousands of smaller changes that are never announced. In 2026 so far, Google has confirmed two core updates (March and May), three spam updates (March, June and August) and one Discover update.

If your traffic dropped, check the dates on Google’s Search Status Dashboard first. Then compare Search Console data from before and after the rollout. For most eCommerce stores, the fix is better category and product content, not a technical trick. Google states there is no special markup needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.

Introduction

We first published this post in 2018, when the March and August broad core updates were moving rankings overnight. Back then, the advice was simple: there was nothing specific to fix, so make your content better and wait.

That advice has aged better than most of the 2018 detail around it. What changed is everything around the core update. Google folded its helpful content system into core ranking, added new spam policies, replaced a Core Web Vital, and put AI-generated answers above the organic results.

This guide is the rewrite. It covers what an algorithm update is, the updates that mattered between 2018 and 2026, how to tell whether one hit your store, and what to do about it. Every 2024 to 2026 date comes from Google’s own Search Status Dashboard, checked on 22 September 2026.

What is a Google algorithm update?

A Google algorithm update is a change to the systems that decide which pages rank for a search. Most are small. Google makes thousands of changes a year and announces almost none of them.

Core updates, spam updates and everything else

The updates worth tracking fall into three groups.

• Broad core updates. Google calls these “significant, broad changes” to its ranking systems. They happen several times a year and take roughly one to three weeks to roll out. They do not target any site or niche.
• Spam updates. These improve how Google detects content that breaks its spam policies. They usually roll out in days, not weeks.
• System-specific updates. Older examples include the product reviews, helpful content and page experience updates. Most of these systems now run inside core ranking and no longer get their own announcements.

Where Google announces them

Google posts confirmed updates on the Google Search Status Dashboard, with start and end dates. If an update is not listed there, Google has not confirmed it. Industry names like “Medic” or “Fred” were given by SEO trackers, not by Google.

What happened to the 2018 updates this post first covered?

Google confirmed a broad core update in March 2018 and another on 1 August 2018. The August update became known in the industry as “Medic” because health and finance sites saw large swings. Google did not use that name and said the update was not aimed at any sector.

Both updates were early examples of the pattern Google still follows. There was no single error to fix. Pages lost ground because other pages were judged more useful for the same queries.

The quality idea behind them survived too. In 2018 SEOs talked about E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. In December 2022 Google added a second E for experience. E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor you can score, but it is the clearest description of what Google’s raters are asked to look for.

Which updates changed search between 2019 and 2023?

Five years of updates reshaped how Google reads pages and judges quality. These are the ones that still affect how an online store should be built.

Dates from Google Search Central announcements and the Search Status Dashboard. The November 2023 reviews update is the last reviews update Google announced separately.

Why the product reviews updates matter to stores

If you sell products, the reviews updates set the bar for your comparison guides and buying advice. Google wanted evidence that the writer had used the product: measurements, photos, pros and cons, and comparisons with alternatives. Copying the manufacturer’s description stopped being enough.

Why the helpful content updates matter even more

The helpful content system looked at a site as a whole. A large amount of unhelpful content could pull down the pages that were good. For stores with thousands of near-identical product and tag pages, that turned thin content from a small problem into a sitewide one.

What changed in 2024 and 2025?

2024 was the biggest structural change since 2018. 2025 was quieter on the ranking side and louder on the AI side.

March 2024: helpful content moved into core ranking

The March 2024 core update ran from 5 March to 19 April 2024, 45 days in total. It folded the helpful content system into Google’s core ranking systems, so there are no separate helpful content updates any more. Google said it expected the change, with its earlier work, to reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in results by 40%.

Three new spam policies

Google added three spam policies in March 2024.

• Scaled content abuse. Mass-producing pages mainly to rank, whether by AI, people or both.
• Expired domain abuse. Buying an expired domain and reusing its reputation to rank unrelated content.
• Site reputation abuse. Third-party content published on a trusted site with little oversight, mainly to rank. Enforcement began in May 2024.

INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital

In March 2024, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) replaced First Input Delay as the responsiveness metric in Core Web Vitals. INP measures how quickly a page responds to every tap and click, not just the first. Heavy themes, page builders and third-party scripts are the usual reasons stores fail it.

AI Overviews and AI Mode

Google launched AI Overviews in US search in May 2024 and opened AI Mode to US users in May 2025. Both write an answer at the top of the page and link to sources. They are not algorithm updates in the usual sense, but they change how many searchers reach your site at all. We cover how to adapt in eCommerce SEO in the age of AI search.

2025 core and spam updates

Google confirmed three core updates in 2025: March (13 to 27 March), June (30 June to 17 July) and December (11 to 29 December). The August 2025 spam update took 26 days to finish, far longer than most spam updates.

Which Google updates have rolled out in 2026 so far?

Google has confirmed six ranking updates in 2026 as of 22 September.

Source: Google Search Status Dashboard, checked 22 September 2026. Google adds an entry once an update starts and records the end date when rollout completes.

What Google said about the 2026 core updates

Google described the May 2026 core update as a regular update to better surface relevant, satisfying content from all types of sites. That is the same language it has used for years. Neither 2026 core update came with a new named system or a specific fix.

New spam rules in 2026

Two policy changes matter more than the spam updates themselves. In April 2026 Google announced a spam policy against back button hijacking, where a site stops visitors from returning to the results page. Enforcement started on 15 June 2026. Google has also made clear that its spam policies cover attempts to manipulate AI Overviews and AI Mode.

If your store uses exit-intent scripts or pop-ups that interfere with the browser’s back button, review them now.

How do you tell if an update hit your store?

Most traffic drops are not algorithm updates. Seasonality, tracking errors, a site migration or a lost backlink cause just as many. Rule those out before you rewrite anything.

Line up the dates

Compare the date your traffic changed with the start and end dates on the Search Status Dashboard. If the change started during a rollout, an update is a likely cause. If it started a week before, look elsewhere.

Wait a week, then compare in Search Console

Google recommends waiting at least one week after an update finishes before judging it. Then compare a period after the update with the same length of time before it, in the Performance report in Search Console.

• Which pages lost clicks. Product pages, category pages and blog posts usually move differently.
• Which queries lost position. Losing generic queries while keeping brand queries is a common core update pattern.
• How far positions fell. A move from 2 to 4 is normal movement. A move from 4 to 29 needs a real review.
• Whether impressions held but clicks fell. That points to AI Overviews or new SERP features, not a ranking loss.

Check for a manual action

Open the Manual actions report in Search Console. A manual action is a penalty applied by a person at Google, and it is listed there with the reason. Algorithmic drops are never listed.

What should an eCommerce store do after a core update?

Google’s own guidance for core updates is to review whether your content is helpful, reliable and made for people. For a store, that translates into a few specific jobs.

Fix category pages first

Category pages usually carry the most commercial traffic. Add a short, useful introduction, clear filters, and buying guidance that helps someone choose. A grid of products with no text gives Google little to rank.

Replace manufacturer copy on key products

If 50 other retailers use the same product description, Google has no reason to rank yours. Start with your top-selling products and write descriptions that answer the questions your customers actually ask: sizing, compatibility, what is in the box, and who the product is not for.

Clean up thin and duplicate pages

Tag pages, empty categories, filtered URLs and old out-of-stock products can bury your good pages. Consolidate, redirect or noindex the ones that add nothing. Our WooCommerce SEO guide walks through this for WooCommerce stores.

Pass Core Web Vitals on templates, not pages

Core Web Vitals are measured per page, but problems come from templates. Fix the product template and every product page improves. Check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console, not a single lab score.

Do not chase AI-specific tricks

Google states there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special schema or AI text files to add. Standard SEO is the requirement. If part of your catalog sits behind a login, read why gated B2B catalogs are invisible to AI search.

What can you check this week?

These checks take a few hours and tell you where you stand.

• Open the Search Status Dashboard and note any update that overlaps your traffic change.
• Compare 28 days before and after the latest update in Search Console, by page and by query.
• Check the Manual actions report so you can rule out a penalty.
• List your 20 highest-revenue category and product pages and check whether each has original text.
• Open the Core Web Vitals report and note which templates fail INP or LCP.
• Test your back button from Google results on mobile. It should return you to the results page every time.
• Search your top 10 non-brand queries and note where AI Overviews appear and which sites they cite.

People also ask

How often does Google update its algorithm?

Constantly. Google makes thousands of changes a year. It confirms only the larger ones, usually two to four core updates and a few spam updates each year.

How long does it take to recover from a core update?

Google says some changes can show in a few days, but it can take several months for its systems to recognize improvements across a site. Many sites see the clearest movement during the next core update.

Is AI-generated content penalized by Google?

Not for being AI-generated. Google targets content made mainly to manipulate rankings, however it was produced. Mass-produced, low-value pages fall under the scaled content abuse policy.

Conclusion

The lesson from 2018 still holds. Core updates reward the page that best helps the searcher, and there is rarely one thing to fix. What changed is the bar. Thin category pages, copied product descriptions and slow templates now weigh on a whole site, and AI answers take clicks from pages that only restate common facts.

Start with the dates, then the data, then the content. If you want a second pair of eyes on a traffic drop, talk to our team.