Google algorithm updates: live tracker

Confirmed Google ranking updates, with the date each started and finished, read live from Google's own Search Status Dashboard. If your traffic dropped, check here first.

Last updated · By the XKey team

Confirmed updates

No ranking update is rolling out right now (checked 1 Nov, 10:54 UK time).

UpdateStartedFinishedTook
September 2026 spam update
Targets sites breaking Google's spam policies.		24 Sept 20268 Oct 202614 days
August 2026 spam update
Targets sites breaking Google's spam policies.		18 Aug 202621 Aug 20263 days
June 2026 spam update
Targets sites breaking Google's spam policies.		24 Jun 202626 Jun 20262 days
May 2026 core update
Reassesses how good and relevant pages are across the board. Big ranking swings, both ways.		21 May 20262 Jun 202612 days
March 2026 core update
Reassesses how good and relevant pages are across the board. Big ranking swings, both ways.		27 Mar 20268 Apr 202612 days
March 2026 spam update
Targets sites breaking Google's spam policies.		24 Mar 202625 Mar 20261 day
February 2026 Discover update5 Feb 202627 Feb 202622 days
December 2025 core update
Reassesses how good and relevant pages are across the board. Big ranking swings, both ways.		11 Dec 202529 Dec 202518 days

Other problems Google has reported

Indexing, crawling or serving problems on Google's side – if your pages dropped out at the same time, this may be why.

Source: Google Search Status Dashboard, refreshed every hour. Only updates Google itself has announced are listed – Google changes its rankings every day, and most changes are never announced.

For what each update and other search changes mean for a small business, read our SEO news.

Did an update hit my site?

  1. Line up the dates. In Google Search Console, open Performance, set the dates to cover the update and compare the weeks before and after.
  2. Wait for it to finish. Rankings bounce around during a rollout. Judge the result a week or two after Google says it's complete.
  3. Find what dropped. Compare pages and searches. A drop across the whole site points to an update; a drop on one page usually has a simpler cause.
  4. Rule out your own changes. A redesign, new addresses, a blocked robots.txt or a noindex tag cause far more drops than updates do – run the free SEO check and the broken link checker.

How to recover from a core update

Google says there's nothing to "fix" after a core update – it has re-judged which pages are most helpful. Pages that dropped usually lost to pages that answer the question better. Look at what ranks above you now and improve your page honestly: more first-hand detail, real photos, prices, clear answers, and proof of experience (see E-E-A-T and writing SEO content). Recovery often shows at the next core update, a few months later.

How to recover from a spam update

Spam updates target sites breaking Google's spam policies: bought links, pages made only for search engines, copied or mass-produced content, and hacked pages. Remove the problem, check your links with the toxic backlink checker, and if you received a manual action in Search Console, request a review once it's fixed.

Frequently asked questions

How often does Google update its algorithm?

Every day, in small ways. Google announces only the bigger updates – usually a few core updates and a spam update or two each year.

How long does a Google update take?

Most roll out over one to three weeks. The table shows how long each confirmed update took.

Where does this list come from?

Google's own Search Status Dashboard, which is where Google confirms ranking updates. We don't add rumoured or unconfirmed updates.

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