Google Hints At Core Update Coming Soon

Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan has said he expects a Google core update in the coming weeks.

Sullivan also said he’d like to tell us when the core update will begin, but he can’t because Google must test and evaluate the results before releasing it into Google Search. 

What Google said about the update

Barry Schwarts, Executive Editor at Search Engine Roundtable, wrote about an interview between Brandon Saltalamacchia (founder of Retro Dodo) and Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan.

During the interview with Saltalamacchia, when discussing core updates, Sullivan said:

  • “I would expect we’ll see one in the coming weeks because that fits in with our general cycle.” “But precisely when that’s just not known yet,”

Danny Sullivan, after reading Schwartz’s post on the interview, left this reply in the comments section:

  • “We’d tell you when the next core update will be if we knew. But we don’t know exactly yet, that’s all. These aren’t scheduled to a particular day. The ranking team makes changes, tests those, evaluates those and eventually we get a launch date. There have been many times I could have said “Core update next week!” because everything was on track for that to happen, but then there’s a need to do a bit more work or other things that might cause a pushback. I would expect we’ll see one in the coming weeks, because that fits in with our general cycle. But precisely when, that’s just not known yet.”

Schwarts posted the Google Search liaison’s reply about the coming core update on X:

The core update timeline fits the general cycle

Although Google Search Liaison expects a core update in the coming weeks, he couldn’t say when because the precise time is yet to be known.

But looking at the timelines of last year’s core updates, and considering there’s only been one in 2024 (the March core update), another one is due.

Recent Google core update timelines:

2023

  • March 2023 core update
  • August 2023 core update.
  • October 2023 core update.
  • November 2023 core update.

2024

  • March 2024 core update.

Based on those timelines, it’s reasonable to expect the next Google core update to begin next month, and that can’t come soon enough for many publishers!

Site owners are hopeful

Publishers, site owners, and SEO professionals hit by the September 2023 helpful content update hoped the March 2024 core update would bring some relief, but only some have yet to see any improvements to their lost rankings.  

Sullivan acknowledged this by saying: 

  • “I do hope we can improve in some of these cases where creators with their hearts in the right places, and who are doing the real content effort behind that, are rewarded as we should be doing.”

That’s nice of Sullivan to say, but it remains to be seen whether the next core update will reward site owners’ hard work in complying with the helpful content update, even if their hearts are in the right places!

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Terry O'Toole

Terry is a seasoned content marketing specialist with over six years of experience writing content that helps small businesses navigate where small businesses meet marketing - SEO, Social Media Marketing, etc. Terry has a proven track record of creating top-performing content in search results. When he is not writing content, Terry can be found on his boat in Italy or chilling in his villa in Spain.

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