Google has released the May 2022 core update in May 2022. This is a global update that will impact all regions in all languages. Here are some details about this release.
The Announcement
Danny Sullivan of Google announced that Google has rolled out the first broad core update on May 25, 2022. The core update started off strong. Before this core update, the latest core update was the Nov 21 core update which is now 6 months old. It was also noted in the announcement that the May 2022 core update will take 1-2 weeks to roll out fully. It can be expected that the site’s performance in search results will be improved.
What is Core Updates
“Core updates are changes we make to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web. While nothing is specific in a core update to any particular site, these updates may produce some noticeable changes to how sites perform, which we’ve noted in previous guidance on what site owners should know about core updates,” Google added
Core updates are aimed at making the search results more relevant to the users. It includes changes to improve overall search and stay beside the changes on the web. The changes are expected to make search more useful and helpful. It is a significant improvement to the overall ranking processes.
Rumors of the Core Update
The SEO community has been seeing indications of rolling out of a potential Google algorithm update since May 16. But Google has not validated these rumors. It may be possible that Google was testing the core update. John Mueller of Google specifically said for this rumor that “when we announce core updates, we start the roll-out at that point, not beforehand.”
When the Update Started
The rolling out of this broad core update was started on May 25, 2022, at about 11:30 am ET. Google will update us after the completion of the rolling out of the broad core update. It has been found that periodic refreshes will be done by Google to this algorithm. Google may not announce these updates in the future.
Previous Core Updates
The latest previous core update was in November 2021. And before November 2021, it was in July 2021. Core updates were also made in June 2021. This update was a big one but slow to roll out.
Before June 2021, the core updates rollout was done in December 2020. It was also a broad and big one and took some weeks to complete. The core update rolled out just before December 2020 was on May 2020 and prior to that, there was January 2020 core update. The updates rolled out prior to January 2020 core update was done in September 2019. But this update was weaker for many webmasters and SEOs as they realized that it did not have a stronger impact just like previous core updates.
What To Do For Negative Impact
If you did not get the expected results from the core update and were negatively impacted by it in the past, you can look for advice on what to consider by Google. These negative rankings may be without anything wrong in the pages. However, Google has proposed a couple of questions to consider if your website is impacted negatively by the core update. Google has admitted that a small recovery can be expected between core updates but the expected change you will notice after another core update. Improvements may not always ensure recovery. However, no improvements can guarantee no recovery.
Why We Care
When Google updates its core update algorithms, there may be a chance that your website may perform better or do worse in the search results. Your rankings may fluctuate. The purpose of providing information on Google updates is to enable you to understand if you notice any change, you can find out whether it is due to something that you changed on your website or due to a change in ranking algorithm s=by Google. So, keep a vigilance on your rankings and analytics for the next couple of weeks.