Possible Google Search Algorithm Update On September 27th

Google Algorithm Update

Update: Google confirmed a "small" update this week:

Our core algorithm is updated all the time. For major updates, we'll continue to share about those on @searchliaison, as we have been. We haven't had a major update of that nature, but we did have a smaller one this week.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) September 29, 2018

Here is a bit more detail on this update I am naming the Google Birthday Update. Below this line is the original coverage of the algorithm update.

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I am hearing some chatter around a possible Google search algorithm update that took place yesterday, September 27th. To be honest, not all of my indicators, i.e. the community chatter and the tracking tools, are 100% convincing that there was a big update. I do believe that a nice number of sites were impacted yesterday but the impact was not as large as a bigger update.

I had a nice number of people ask me if there was an update yesterday, but again, the overall chatter is not massive. There is chatter and I'll share that chatter below. Some are thinking that maybe there was a reversal to one of the previous and recent Google algorithm updates. So it is hard to say at this point. When you look at the chatter, many are suggesting it may be a reversal or adjustment of some sorts to the Google Medic Update - but time will tell.

Here is some of the chatter at WebmasterWorld:

OMG my rankings have just all comeback and my traffic is almost like pre-august. I think I'm going to cry!

@whoa182 same here, my traffic is back to normal, was down for just two days tho.

Someone sure flipped a switch today! Some of our most important serps are back to normal. Let's see if it stays this way. Quite bizar though.

Something definitely changed, Im happy for those that recovered. My keywords are ranked higher so obviously traffic has increased. The still-not-so-good news for me that my main keywords pre-August have yet to recover.

I got a nice boost with the early September update but things are leveling off now. Just waiting for the next update to see what happens, hopefully another spike, fingers crossed.

strong growth from Monday 17 September to Wednesday 26 September.
yesterday Thursday September 27 sharp decline now visitors are the same as on Thursday 13 September.

Here is some of the chatter in the Black Hat World thread:

An update again? Or it's just me

I am seeing some notable improvements in my former top keywords. Something is surely happening for me

I noticed a bump yesterday. I was also affected by the August update. site dropped from 15k to 4k since update. Yesterday it went up to 5.7k , a particular post went up 1.3k

Yep, some keywords doing a bit of dancing. Nothing drastic though.

Here are some of the folks on Twitter about this:

Seeing pretty big drops in organic traffic and rankings for one of our properties. News and blog posts are ranking in place of static pages. Anyone else seeing fluctuations, @Marie_Haynes, @rustybrick, @JohnMu?
— Lynette Zilio (@lzilio) September 27, 2018

I'm hearing several rumors of a significant update happening. And of course I'm traveling. Anyone seeing changes? https://t.co/EF329A1yYc
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) September 27, 2018

Yes, I'm seeing movements!
— Olivier Duffez (@webrankinfo) September 27, 2018

It's a big change indeed. Seeing big improvements in one of our sites that were heavily affected by the medical update back in august. A correction perhaps? pic.twitter.com/vgbftwoB8d
— Nacho Boza (@nachoboza) September 28, 2018

Yep. Significant changes. The changes happened about 12 hours ago. Or at least that’s when i start noticing them. I’m sure most people will notice them in the next day along with SERP tools.
— Stuart McHenry (@smindsrt) September 27, 2018

Huge update. Looks to be a turning up of the large brand dial to me again.
— Kurt Leitinger (@KurtLeitinger) September 27, 2018

It's a big change indeed. Seeing big improvements in one of our sites that were heavily affected by the medical update back in august. A correction perhaps? pic.twitter.com/vgbftwoB8d
— Nacho Boza (@nachoboza) September 28, 2018

Our organic traffic numbers are actually up! You should come work for @TooFab.
— Bernie Zilio (@berniezilio) September 28, 2018

Google Algo Update (1 of 2): I said the other day that we were due for a major update. Little did I know that would arrive so quickly. I've been checking my list of sites that were impacted by prev. major updates and seeing a number either surge or drop. Here are some examples: pic.twitter.com/QF3ziyADbC
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 28, 2018

Google Algo Update (2 of 2): And this is my absolute favorite. There's a LONG story behind this one, but they finally surged on 9/26. FINALLY. Here are screenshots from both GA and SEMrush. I really hope this sticks for them. They deserve it. pic.twitter.com/1w155q9UlO
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 28, 2018

Here are some of the automated tracking tools, as you can see, not all of them are showing big changes:

Mozcast: