Google Search has started to roll out the second broad core update of the year, the September 2022 broad core update. It started on September 12, 2022 at about 11:25 am ET and can take about two weeks to roll out.
This update followed the completion of the Google helpful content update that finished on Friday, September 9th. I am surprised, I was kind of told that following the helpful content update we would be getting the fifth product reviews update - but all is good, we got a core update instead.
So far we are seeing that this core update is already picking up steam and causing a lot of widespread volatility. Both the early chatter within the SEO community are showing this and also the Google tracking tools. Some are showing 20-60% drops in traffic since this began rolling out. It is too soon to be certain but I wanted to share what we've seen so far.
Google September 2022 Broad Core Update Quick Facts
Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:
- Name: Google September 2022 Broad Core Update
- Launched: September 12, 2022 at around 11:25 pm ET
- Rollout: It will take about one to two weeks to roll out
- Targets: It looks at all types of content
- Penalty: It is not a penalty, it promotes or rewards great web pages
- Global: This is a global update impacting all regions, in all languages.
- Impact: Google would not tell me what percentage of queries or searches were impacted by this update but so far, this seems to be a typical core update that reaches wide and the impact is fast.
- Discover: Core updates impact Google Discover and other features, also feature snippets and more.
- Recover: If you were hit by this, then you will need to look at your content and see if you can do better with Google's core update advice.
- Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to this algorithm but may not communicate those updates in the future. Maybe this is what we saw the past couple of weeks or all those unconfirmed Google updates.
Here is the tweet announcing this which links to the page that says "September 12, 2022 - Released the September 2022 core update. The rollout could take 2 weeks to complete."
Today we released the September 2022 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/sQ5COfdNcb
β Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) September 12, 2022
Will This Be A Big Update
Time will tell but core updates tend to be noticeable and SEOs do generally see widespread changes with these updates. Plus Danny Sullivan kind of hinted that we might see changes with the next core update, as Glenn Gabe reminded us below. But not because the helpful content update and core updates are related, they are not. More because the scores together might tip some scales for some, if they have issues with both separate ranking systems...
Not that directly. Point is our ranking systems use a variety of signals overall, as we said: https://t.co/G6g7hvE7P2
β Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) September 12, 2022
Helpful content is weighted, so sites on the edge might not see issues. But if they also have core update issues, the combo might be more significant. pic.twitter.com/tQZcsZQHkp
All Languages / Global
As a reminder, core updates now impact all languages and are global updates:
Yes
β π½γlink href=//johnmu.com rel=canonical γπ½ (@JohnMu) September 13, 2022
Previous Broad Core Updates
This will take a couple of weeks to roll out and it has been about four months since the last update, which was last the May 2022 core update on May 25, 2022. Prior to that was the November 2021 core update on November 17th through November 30th. The previous core updates prior to the November update was the July 2021 and then a month prior to that with the June core update. The one before that was 6 months before the June update, 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.
SEO Chatter On May 2022 Core Update
Here is some of the chatter I am seeing early on in WebmasterWorld, like I said, it has started pretty quick.
Seeing a massive drop in traffic, but no changes in ranking in SERP
Very huge drop today... wowwww
25 ~ 30% drop :(
Some of the early chatter on Twitter:
My traffic is down (by 20% approx) but I keep checking my rankings and they are pretty much the same... Perhaps I am losing rankings from adjacent queries and not my targetted keywords.
β John Contreras (@johntristanbook) September 12, 2022
I know everyone complains about core updates, and Google tends to ignore them. But, if you don't allow time for people to analyse trends from previous updates then how do you expect them to improve or learn?
β Henry Funnell (@HenryFunnell) September 12, 2022
About 20% decrease in traffic based on what I think we should be seeing today. Although we did gain about 20% after the helpful content update, so we're just back to where we were a month ago. π«€
β Jonathon Hyjekπ‘ (@jonathonhyjek) September 12, 2022
Traffic is all over the place, 50% increase in the morning then 40% drop in the evening. Looks like a pretty big update
β Stefan (@Stefan01301380) September 12, 2022
Oh⦠I was thinking it would have been later. Usually is every 6 months. https://t.co/3fDLa122Ta
β Gianluca Fiorelli (@gfiorelli1) September 12, 2022
No πππ
β Sturdy Business (@SturdyBusiness) September 12, 2022
Kind of π pic.twitter.com/d3mC8ivtrd
β dan π€ content (@saintvienna) September 13, 2022
β Tinus (@Tinusg) September 13, 2022
Gotta love these almost chained updates facilitating analysis π https://t.co/RvGXQkrghm
β Aleyda Solis πΊπ¦ (@aleyda) September 12, 2022
I donβt know whatβs going on over there at Google but something is. Between a weird PRU all that was and wasnβt with the HCU and now instead of another PRU a core update? Something is happening behind the curtain https://t.co/T9dW2APe7U
β Mordy Oberstein πΊπ¦ (@MordyOberstein) September 12, 2022
6th major update of the year
β Andy Beard (@AndyBeard) September 12, 2022
Google need to push 5 more updates this year to beat their 2021 total (10 major updates) https://t.co/qCTzu9LTU1
My jaw actually dropped https://t.co/q0WtVM73Oq
β Lily Ray π (@lilyraynyc) September 12, 2022
Feeling sorry for all my friends who are known for writing up and documenting effects of Google's major updates. How are they getting anything done recently? Geesh! https://t.co/bdlHoi0xTO
β Cindy Krum π± (@Suzzicks) September 12, 2022
OMG, I was NOT expecting this today. I thought the next Product Reviews Update would be next. What is going on in Google Land? :) Heads-up, like others, it could take up to 2 weeks to fully roll out. https://t.co/JUPF9J65Lm
β Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 12, 2022
Tracking Tools On September 2022 Core Update
What have you all noticed so far?
Forum discussion at Twitter and WebmasterWorld.
