Google launched seven official and confirmed algorithmic updates in 2024, four core updates and three spam updates. The March 2024 core update was massive, updating several systems within the core algorithm, plus bringing in a few new large spam policies.
In 2023, Google had 9 confirmed algorithmic updates. In 2022 and 2021, Google had 10 confirmed algorithmic updates.
Google confirmed algorithm update summary
We whipped up this timeline documenting all the confirmed Google search algorithm updates in 2024, so you can visualize the updates over the year.
Four Google core updates in 2024
Google had four core updates in 2024, the same number as it had in 2023, but in 2022 Google only had two core updates. We had core updates in March, August, November and December.
March 2024 core update. The Google March 2024 core update started rolling out March 5, took 45 days to complete, and finished on April 19. Google told us this core update was its largest core update in history, updating multiple core systems.
The March 2024 core update is “more complex update than our usual core updates,” Chris Nelson from the Search Quality team at Google said. Google made “changes to multiple core systems,” he added. A Google spokesperson said, “The updates led to larger quality improvements than we originally thought – you’ll now see 45% less low quality, unoriginal content in search results, versus the 40% improvement we expected across this work.”
Here is one chart we shared back then comparing that volatility:
August 2024 core update. The Google August 2023 core update started on August 15 and completed 19 days later on September 3. This update is not just a normal core update, Google said this core update took into account the feedback Google heard since the September 2023 helpful content update that seemed to have a negative impact on many small and independent publishers. Some sites hit by the September 2023 helpful content update saw some improvement, but not full recoveries.
This update was a rather large core update, based on what the data providers showed us. Google updated its help page, including more in-depth guidance for those who may see changes after an update.
November 2024 core update. The Google November 2024 core update started on November 11 and completed 24 days later on December 5. This was a normal core update that “This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search,” Google said.
As a whole, the November 2024 core update felt less volatile overall compared to the other two core updates that seemed to impact a larger number of sites.