Google's John Mueller said that it is impossible for Google to pre-announce quality improvements to Google Search, including core updates. He said, "having quality changes ready for a specific date/time is never a given, and pre-announcing for a fixed date isn't possible."
John added on Bluesky, "We try to launch quality improvements as soon as they're ready & evaluated." But preparing a specific date for a core update is not as easy as "Preparing a date for a launch of a logo-change, for example, is much easier," he added.
Here is his post:
We try to launch quality improvements as soon as they're ready & evaluated. Having quality changes ready for a specific date/time is never a given, and pre-announcing for a fixed date isn't possible. Preparing a date for a launch of a logo-change, for example, is much easier.
— John Mueller (@johnmu.com) December 13, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Now, I will do the Barry thing, and say that on June 8, 2019, Danny Sullivan, the former Google Search Liaison, kinda said the opposite. He said Google will try to pre-announce future core updates. Although we know that never really happened.
Also, I can say, Google does pre-announce a lot of search features and I get embargoed statements from Google on some of those. I almost never get the same for core updates or quality updates. I think I may have received one for the first helpful content update, but even then, the date for when it would be released was not set in stone. I never get notices from Google that a core update will be released in the coming days, I just don't think Google knows for sure until it is fully ready and when it is, they just push it.
I am not sure why they can't get it ready and then decide to push it a day or two later. But maybe they just want it out as soon as possible?
Forum discussion at Bluesky.
