Google June 2021 Core Update Is Live

Google June 2021 Core Update

The time has come - Google has finally released another broad core update - this one is named the June 2021 Core Update. This update started rolling out yesterday, June 2, 2021 and it came just about six months after the last core update, which was the December 2020 core update. The rollout started at about 6:30pm ET on Wednesday, June 2, 2021.

So far, this update as of the time I am posting this, has no teeth. It is still early and often these updates rollout over the course of a couple of weeks and but normally we see the impact within 24 to 48 hours. But as of 12 or so hours since it launched, at this point, there is little to zero impact in the Google Search results so far from this update. More on that later in the what we are seeing section below.

This core update like others is global and impacting all languages.

Danny Sullivan posted the announcement on the SearchLiaison Twitter account at around 1pm ET on June 2nd:

Later today, we are releasing a broad core update, as we do several times per year. It is called the June 2021 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates is here:https://t.co/e5ZQUA3RC6

This will be followed by the July 2021 Core update. Here’s more information about that…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021

Not Related To Unconfirmed Updates Or Other Google Updates

I often hear that people saw this update coming because we reported on so many unconfirmed Google algorithm updates in the month of May. But this broad core update is unrelated to any of those unconfirmed updates, at least according to Google.

And no, this is not related to the page experience update / core web vitals update, which is slated for mid-June. Although both have the name "core" the Google core updates are about quality and the page experience update is about performance. Core updates are way more noticeable than what we expect from the page experience update.

It's not related to the core updates and still slated for mid-June. More: https://t.co/TvxhzjxbOe
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) June 2, 2021

Two Part Update: June and July Core Updates

Google said it released a core update in June (now) but plans to push out another core update next month - called the July 2021 core update. Why didn't Google release both the same time? Well, Google said not all of the pieces are ready for that, so they pushed out what is ready now in the June 2021 core update and will do another push when the last parts are ready for the July 2021 core update.

What is not ready? I asked Google and Google would not say. Google did say that if your site rankings changes with the June 2021 core update, you may see a reversal or shift (or not) with the July 2021 core update - so don't celebrate or cry if you your site was impacted by the June 2021 core update - it might change again next month with the next update.

Here is what Google said about the two updates:

Of course, any core update can produce drops or gains for some content. Because of the two-part nature of this release, it’s possible a very small slice of content might see changes in June that reverse in July....
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021

Timing The Core Update

Like most core updates, this update takes about two weeks to fully roll out. Google will tell us when the update is done rolling out but for now, it started in the afternoon on June 2, 2021. It will likely be done in about two weeks from now.

The rollout started at around 6:30pm ET on June 2nd:

The June 2021 Core Update is now rolling out live. As is typical with these updates, it will typically take about one to two weeks to fully roll out.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021

The previous core update was 6 months ago on December 3, 2020 named the December 2020 core update. Before that was 7 month gap where on May 4, 2020, the May 2020 core update. The one prior to that was on January 13, 2020, the January 2020 core update and the one before that was on September 24, 2019, the September 2019 core update. Oh, before that was on June 3, 2019, the June 2019 core update and I can go on and on.

Improve After a Core Update

Did you get hit by this update, Google did give us advice on core updates and how to improve your site overall after seeing a negative outcome after a core update. Google reiterated that in this tweet:

As a reminder, nothing in a core update is site-specific. Those who seek to perform well with search generally, including with core updates, should look to our guidance here: https://t.co/Mk9xsiTw1B
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021

Google also posted a new blog post on how and why Google does these updates. Google wrote "because there are so many incremental updates, it’s not useful for us to share details about all of them. However, we try to do so when we feel there is actionable information that site owners, content producers or others might consider applying, as was the case with both of the updates mentioned above."

Just as computers & smartphones are regularly updated, the same thing happens with Google Search. In fact, Google Search is updated thousands of times per year with changes meant to improve the experience and the quality of results. More about the process: https://t.co/3EJAvaondz
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021

SEO Chatter: What We Are Seeing

Here are some threads on WebmasterWorld, BlackHatWorld and other platforms quoting what some SEOs are seeing early on with this update. SEOs started to notice changes around 4pm ET but Google did not confirm the rollout started until a couple of hours later. But not many are seeing much by the time I published this story. Most are not seeing anything. Also, be careful with the WebmasterWorld, it claims this update started two weeks ago, it did not - those were other unconfirmed updates. This core update did not begin rolling out two weeks ago, it only started yesterday - so please be careful. Here is what some are saying:

Main global site all but stopped with traffic, UK localised hotel site about to overtake it ! WTF ?
It's nothing less than a total insult when #1 is a Pinterest page scraping my images and text, ffs!

I saw a big sudden surge in real USA and UK traffic from 9am-12pm today, during which time I had two new leads... then right back down. I'm exactly 28% down in USA, UK, and Australia traffic today...Canada is at zero visits today. Overall searches down 19%, direct traffic down 34%. I do hope that this isn't the update!

Seems either not actually live yet or the bulk of it hasn't rolled out yet.

No changes yet.

No significant changes. I think June is the page experience update and July/August will be the big bombardment.

I don't see any change at all in the SERPS I watch so far...

My rankings are stable as of now, did it go through?

No significant changes at all for me. Semrush sensor is stable for my categories too.
Maybe something to come? I’m happy with no changes haha

I understand it takes up to two weeks for it to roll out, but generally we used to see an impact almost immediately when it's announced.
Almost a full day later and nothing yet. Not even the black hat forum people report anything.
Don't think it started rolling out yet. Will see what happens later today.

Glenn Gabe also dug into his data and saw the same thing - not much going on:

Quick update: All silent on the core update front so far, which isn't surprising given the late rollout (about 6:40PM ET last night). I've checked a # of sites this morning & hourly Google organic trending looks very stable so far. I'll post another update as more data comes in: pic.twitter.com/60QuqvpQR7
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) June 3, 2021

Marie Haynes same deal:

Had a very quick look at client data this morning and so far I'm not seeing any obvious significant movement.

Something to note if you are looking at client data to determine if the core update hit is that last weekend was a holiday in the US (and the prev one was in Canada).
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) June 3, 2021

Rob May also:

So far so good for the Core Update push yesterday by Google. Clients accounts all look stable (for now). Some are seeing small bumps, but can't say that's directly related to the release. Hard to say at this point. Major tools (overall) not tracking any significant swings. #SEO pic.twitter.com/uHKzT87Qs2
— Rob May (@robinlmay) June 3, 2021

So far, this update does not seem to be having an impact but it is super early and maybe over the day we will see SEOs take notice?

Search Tracking Tools:

Here are the tracking tools are showing, and this time we don't have much movement before the announcement of this update. The tools are all showing almost zero volatility and ranking fluctuations so far, just like we see from the SEO community and forums. So here is what we are seeing as of this morning:

Mozcast: