The four things people call "an algorithm update"
| Type | What it does | Announced? | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core update | Re-weighs Google's main ranking systems for all sites | Yes, on the Search Status Dashboard (smaller ones are not) | Gradual shifts across many queries during a 1 to 6 week rollout |
| Spam update | Improves detection of spam policy violations | Yes | Sharp drops, often on sites using spam tactics or link schemes |
| Feature update (for example Discover) | Changes one surface only | Yes | Only that surface moves (for example the Discover report) |
| Manual action | A person at Google flags a violation | No, you get a message | Security & Manual Actions in Search Console |
Every confirmed ranking update since 2024
Core updates: March 2024 (Mar 5, 45 days), August 2024 (Aug 15, 19 days), November 2024 (Nov 11, 23 days), December 2024 (Dec 12, 6 days), March 2025 (Mar 13, 14 days), June 2025 (Jun 30, 17 days), December 2025 (Dec 11, 18 days), March 2026 (Mar 27, 12 days), May 2026 (May 21, 12 days).
Spam updates: March 2024 (Mar 5), June 2024 (Jun 20), December 2024 (Dec 19), August 2025 (Aug 26), March 2026 (Mar 24), June 2026 (Jun 24), August 2026 (Aug 18), September 2026 (Sep 24).
Other: February 2026 Discover update (Feb 5, Discover only).
Source: Google Search Status Dashboard. Older named updates (Panda, Penguin and others) are folded into Google's core systems today and are not useful for diagnosing a drop now.
Which update hit you? Match the pattern
- Find the date the drop started. In Search Console, Performance, set the last 3 months and look for where clicks bend down. Note the first day.
- Match it to the dashboard. Was an update rolling out that day? If not, an update is probably not the cause.
- Check for a manual action. Security & Manual Actions, Manual actions. If there is one, it explains the drop, and you fix the listed issue and request a review.
- Check if only Discover moved. If the Search results report is flat and only Discover fell, it was a Discover change.
- Look at the shape (table below).
- If two updates overlapped (for example March 2024, when core and spam began the same day), check the spam policies first, since those problems have a clearer fix.
| What you see | Most likely cause |
|---|---|
| Losses spread across many pages, mostly lower positions, during a core rollout | Core update |
| Sudden, deep, site-wide drop during a spam rollout, on a site that used paid links, scaled thin pages or hosted others' low-value content | Spam update |
| Search results flat, only the Discover report down | Discover update |
| Position steady but clicks down | Not a ranking update: check the results page (AI Overviews, ads) and demand |
| A message under Security & Manual Actions | Manual action |
What to do for each type
- Core update: wait one week after it is done, compare the right weeks, review your biggest losers against the pages that now outrank them, and improve them. Google says recovery can take several months. (Google: core updates)
- Spam update: read the spam policies and remove what breaks them. Google says systems may learn "over a period of months" that a site complies, and value from links it has discounted cannot be regained. (Google: spam updates)
- Discover update: review the Discover report and Google's Discover guidance. Your search rankings may be fine.
- Manual action: fix the exact issue listed, then click Request review in Search Console.
Worked example (fictional)
northwind-outdoors.com saw clicks drop from August 20, 2026. The dashboard shows the August 2026 spam update (from August 18) but no core update. There is no manual action. The drop is concentrated in a "partners" section where the site had published paid guest posts with links. That points to the spam update, not a core update. The fix is to remove or noindex that section and stop selling links, then wait months, not days.
Why "algorithm update trackers" mislead
Third-party volatility tools watch a sample of keywords, not your site. A high reading tells you something moved for some sites. Your own Search Console data, compared over the right weeks, is the only thing that tells you what moved for you.
How to use this with an AI assistant
Connect SEOmatic at https://seomatic.ai/mcp and ask: "Use gsc_performance with action trend on mysite.com for the last 90 days, find the first day clicks dropped, and tell me which Google update on the Search Status Dashboard was rolling out that day." The trend read needs a free sign-in with connect_seomatic; check Manual actions in Search Console yourself, since no tool reads it.
More from the core update checklist
- The checklistGoogle Core Update: How to Tell If You Were Hit, and What to Do
- GuideGoogle Core Updates in 2026: Dates, What Changed and What to Do
- GuideHow Long Does a Google Core Update Take to Roll Out?
- GuideHow Long Does It Take to Recover From a Google Core Update?
- GuideGoogle's Helpful Content Questions, as a Checklist You Can Score
- GuideHow to Use the Google Search Status Dashboard to Explain a Traffic Change