SEO · 14 Jun 2026 · 2 min read
Google Search Algorithm Updates
What changed, what it actually affects, and how we adjust technical SEO work when Google ships an update.
By GGM Technologies
Google updates its search engine continuously to improve result quality. Most changes are invisible, but major updates can shift rankings across entire industries overnight. Understanding the different types helps you tell a real quality problem from routine algorithm noise.
Types of updates
- Core updates — broad recalibrations of how Google evaluates relevance and quality across the whole web, not targeted at one problem
- Spam updates — target link spam, artificial link building, and scaled content abuse via Google's SpamBrain system
- Helpful content updates — reward original, people-first content over material written purely to rank
- Product review updates — favor in-depth, experience-based reviews over thin summaries or manufacturer copy
Recent major updates
- August 2024 core update — aimed to surface higher-quality content and reduce low-value SEO pages
- December 2024 spam update — strengthened detection of link spam and manipulative tactics
- June 2025 core update — reassessed long-term site signals globally, not isolated page issues
- Explicit fake content update (July 2024) — targeted deepfakes and non-consensual synthetic media
How updates affect rankings
During a core update, positions shift as Google re-evaluates content against new criteria — a drop doesn't always mean your content got worse, sometimes a competing page simply satisfies the updated criteria better. Recovery takes sustained work: stronger answers, clearer structure, and removing thin content that existed only to rank, not quick fixes.
What to actually do about it
- Compare before/after performance in Search Console to identify which sections were actually affected
- Improve content with original insight, updated information, and demonstrated expertise
- Review technical health — crawlability, page structure, and internal linking — alongside content quality
Why SEO still matters with AI Overviews
AI Overviews synthesize answers directly on the results page, which changes click patterns, but Google still needs crawlable, well-structured web content to power those answers. Technical health, clear content, and demonstrated trustworthiness matter for both traditional rankings and AI-surfaced results.
Questions
How do I know if an update affected my site?+
Check Search Console for timing correlations, page-specific ranking changes, and shifts in impressions and clicks around known update windows. Site-wide drops usually point to algorithm impact; isolated page drops often point to competition or content-specific issues.
What's the difference between a core update and other updates?+
Core updates recalibrate quality assessment broadly across many topics. Specialized updates — spam, product reviews, helpful content — target one specific issue at a time.
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