Spam & links
September 2026 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolling out nowGoogle Search Status Dashboard
Google Search history
Every Google algorithm update, explained simply
From the Panda that ate content farms to the 2026 core updates: one mind map, one timeline, and a plain-language explanation for each update, each linked to Google's own announcement.
- 64
- updates listed
- 16
- years of history
- 5
- animals in the zoo
The mind map
Six families cover every update Google has shipped. Tap any item to jump to its explanation.
The animal zoo (6)
2011-2016 named updates
Core updates (17)
Broad quality re-ranking
Google Search ranking
2011 - 2026
Content quality (12)
Helpful content, reviews, Discover
Page experience (8)
Mobile, speed, HTTPS, pop-ups
AI & understanding (5)
RankBrain, BERT, MUM, AI Overviews
The Google zoo
Between 2011 and 2016 updates were named after animals. Google named Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird; Pigeon and Possum are nicknames from the SEO industry.
2011
Panda
Content quality
The first 'animal'. Demoted thin, copied and ad-heavy content farms. It kept refreshing through 2012 and became part of the core algorithm in 2016.
Google's announcement2012
Penguin
Link spam
Went after link schemes and keyword stuffing. Sites built on bought or spammy links dropped overnight.
Google's announcement2013
Hummingbird
Meaning of queries
A full rewrite of the search engine to understand the meaning of a whole question, not just match keywords one by one. Fast and precise, like the bird.
Google's announcement2014
Pigeon
Local search
(Industry nickname)
Tied local results closer to classic web ranking signals and distance. Like a homing pigeon, it helps searchers find the business nearest to them.
Google documentation2016
Possum
Local filtering
(Industry nickname)
A local update that filtered duplicate listings and widened results beyond city borders. Many businesses thought they vanished, but they were only 'playing possum'.
Google documentation
Full timeline
From November 2021 every entry mirrors the official Google Search Status Dashboard. Earlier entries link to Google's original announcement.
2026
- Spam & links
August 2026 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 3 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
June 2026 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 2 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
May 2026 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 12 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
March 2026 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 12 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
March 2026 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 1 dayGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
February 2026 Discover update
A ranking update for Google Discover only (the feed in the Google app), not for regular search results.
Rolled out in 22 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard
2025
- Core updates
December 2025 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 18 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
August 2025 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 27 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
June 2025 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 17 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
March 2025 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 14 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard
2024
- Spam & links
December 2024 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 7 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
December 2024 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 6 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
November 2024 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 24 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Ranking incidents
Ranking issue (August 2024)
Not an update: a temporary bug in Google's ranking systems that Google flagged and fixed. Ranking wobbles in this window were not your fault.
Rolled out in 4 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
August 2024 core update
Core update built on feedback from March 2024: more visibility for small, independent sites that write genuinely useful content.
Rolled out in 19 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
June 2024 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 7 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - AI & understanding
AI Overviews
Gemini-written summaries appear above the results with cited links. Being the source Google quotes (GEO/AEO) is the new top spot.
- Spam & links
March 2024 spam update
Launched three new spam policies: scaled content abuse, expired domain abuse and site reputation abuse ('parasite SEO').
Rolled out in 15 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
March 2024 core update
The biggest core update in years (45 days). The helpful content system was folded into the core ranking systems for good.
Rolled out in 45 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard
2023
- Content quality
November 2023 reviews update
The last announced reviews update. After this, Google improves the reviews system continuously without announcing it.
Rolled out in 29 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
November 2023 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 26 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
October 2023 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 14 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Ranking incidents
Ranking issue (October 2023)
Not an update: a temporary bug in Google's ranking systems that Google flagged and fixed. Ranking wobbles in this window were not your fault.
Rolled out in 26 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
October 2023 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 15 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
September 2023 helpful content update
The toughest helpful content round: hit hosted third-party content and mass AI-style pages that add nothing new.
Rolled out in 13 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
August 2023 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 16 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
April 2023 reviews update
Reviews update widened from products to reviews of anything: services, places, media, businesses.
Rolled out in 13 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
March 2023 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 13 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
February 2023 product reviews update
Rewards reviews written from real hands-on use (photos, pros and cons, comparisons) over thin affiliate pages that just repeat specs.
Rolled out in 14 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard
2022
- Spam & links
December 2022 link spam update
SpamBrain learned to spot bought and manipulative links and simply ignore them, so their value disappears.
Rolled out in 29 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
December 2022 helpful content update
Expanded the helpful content classifier to all languages worldwide, including Arabic.
Rolled out in 38 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
October 2022 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 2 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
September 2022 product reviews update
Rewards reviews written from real hands-on use (photos, pros and cons, comparisons) over thin affiliate pages that just repeat specs.
Rolled out in 6 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
September 2022 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 14 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
August 2022 helpful content update
The first 'helpful content' update: a site-wide signal that demotes content made for search engines instead of people.
Rolled out in 15 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
July 2022 product reviews update
Rewards reviews written from real hands-on use (photos, pros and cons, comparisons) over thin affiliate pages that just repeat specs.
Rolled out in 6 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
May 2022 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 15 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Content quality
March 2022 product reviews update
Rewards reviews written from real hands-on use (photos, pros and cons, comparisons) over thin affiliate pages that just repeat specs.
Rolled out in 14 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Page experience
Page experience update for desktop
Brings the mobile page-experience signals (Core Web Vitals, HTTPS, no intrusive pop-ups) to desktop results too.
Rolled out in 9 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard
2021
- Content quality
December 2021 product reviews update
Rewards reviews written from real hands-on use (photos, pros and cons, comparisons) over thin affiliate pages that just repeat specs.
Rolled out in 20 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Core updates
November 2021 core update
A broad refresh of how Google judges overall quality. Nothing is 'penalized'; pages are re-ranked against everyone else, so improve the whole site, not one tag.
Rolled out in 13 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
November 2021 spam update
Upgrades SpamBrain and Google's spam systems to push down sites that break the spam policies (cloaking, scraped or auto-generated junk, hacked pages).
Rolled out in 8 daysGoogle Search Status Dashboard - Spam & links
Link spam update
Sponsored and guest-post links must be tagged (rel="sponsored" / "nofollow"); untagged paid links get neutralized.
- Page experience
Page experience (Core Web Vitals)
Loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability (Core Web Vitals) joined the ranking signals on mobile.
- AI & understanding
MUM
A multitask, multilingual model ('1,000 times more powerful than BERT') that understands text and images across 75 languages.
- Content quality
Product reviews update (first)
Rewards reviews written from real hands-on use (photos, pros and cons, comparisons) over thin affiliate pages that just repeat specs.
- AI & understanding
Passage ranking
Google can rank a single useful paragraph from a long page, so clear sections and headings matter more.
2019
- AI & understanding
BERT
A language model that reads words in context, so small words like 'for' and 'to' finally change the result. Write naturally.
2018
- Core updatesIndustry nickname
August 2018 core update ('Medic')
Hit health and finance sites hardest and made E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, trust) the talk of SEO.
- Page experience
Speed update
Page speed became a ranking factor for mobile searches; only the slowest pages were affected.
- Page experience
Mobile-first indexing
Google started reading the mobile version of your site as the main version. What is missing on mobile basically does not exist.
2017
- Page experience
Intrusive interstitials
Mobile pages that hide the content behind a full-screen pop-up became less likely to rank well.
2016
- The animal zoo
Penguin 4.0 (real-time)
Penguin moved inside the core algorithm and runs in real time. Instead of punishing the whole site, it now just ignores spammy links.
- The animal zooIndustry nickname
Possum
A local update that filtered duplicate listings and widened results beyond city borders. Many businesses thought they vanished, but they were only 'playing possum'.
2015
- AI & understanding
RankBrain
Google's first machine-learning ranking system. It connects new, never-seen searches to the concepts they mean.
- Page experience
Mobile-friendly update ('Mobilegeddon')
Pages that work well on phones started ranking higher in mobile search.
2014
- Page experience
HTTPS as a ranking signal
Secure sites (the padlock) got a small ranking boost. Today HTTPS is simply expected.
- The animal zooIndustry nickname
Pigeon
Tied local results closer to classic web ranking signals and distance. Like a homing pigeon, it helps searchers find the business nearest to them.
2013
- The animal zoo
Hummingbird
A full rewrite of the search engine to understand the meaning of a whole question, not just match keywords one by one. Fast and precise, like the bird.
2012
- Spam & links
Pirate (DMCA signal)
Sites with many valid copyright removal notices rank lower, to protect original creators.
- The animal zoo
Penguin
Went after link schemes and keyword stuffing. Sites built on bought or spammy links dropped overnight.
- Page experience
Page layout ('Top Heavy')
Pages that push content below a wall of ads 'above the fold' started losing rankings.
2011
- The animal zoo
Panda
The first 'animal'. Demoted thin, copied and ad-heavy content farms. It kept refreshing through 2012 and became part of the core algorithm in 2016.
Hit by an update? Do this, in order
- 1Wait until the rollout finishes (the dashboard shows the end date) before changing anything.
- 2Compare two weeks before and after in Search Console: which pages and queries dropped?
- 3Read the affected pages as a visitor: is there first-hand experience, a clear author, a real answer?
- 4Fix site-wide patterns (thin pages, bought links, ad clutter), not one page at a time.
- 5Give it time: recovery usually shows up at the next core update.
Questions people ask
How often does Google update its algorithm?
Thousands of small changes every year. Google announces only the notable ones: usually 3 to 4 core updates and a few spam updates per year, all listed on the Search Status Dashboard.
What is a Google core update?
A broad change to how Google assesses content overall. It is not a penalty: pages are re-evaluated against everything else on the web, so some rise and others fall.
Why were Google updates named after animals?
Panda was named after Google engineer Navneet Panda, and the black-and-white theme continued with Penguin. Hummingbird was chosen because it is 'precise and fast'. Pigeon and Possum were named by SEO journalists, not Google.
Are Panda and Penguin still running?
Yes, but not as separate updates. Panda joined the core algorithm in 2016 and Penguin became real-time in September 2016, so both work continuously inside core ranking.
Where can I check if Google is rolling out an update right now?
On the official Google Search Status Dashboard, Ranking section. This page mirrors it and explains each update in plain language.
Want an update-proof SEO plan?
I audit your site against every signal on this map and tell you exactly what to fix first.