Google Algorithm Updates: Where to Find the Official History

Use a maintained primary source

Google’s dashboard is a better reference for announced updates than a static article that may become outdated. Check the event name, start date, end date and linked announcement. Record the source when sharing an update with a client or student.

This guide deliberately avoids inventing rollout dates, naming unannounced systems or ranking updates by unsupported volatility claims.

Distinguish the categories

Core updates affect broad ranking systems. Spam updates address violations of spam policies. Other announced changes may affect particular Search features. A service incident is an operational event and should not automatically be described as a ranking update.

Read the announcement itself rather than inferring the purpose from a short social post. A site’s movement can have several causes at the same time.

For the next step, read Google Core Updates: How to Check and Respond in 2026.

Build a useful change log

Keep columns for the event, official link, rollout dates, affected pages, observed query changes and your own site changes. Separate observation from explanation: “clicks decreased” is an observation, while “the update caused it” needs further evidence.

Use Search Console to examine the affected page and query groups. Check indexing, seasonality and technical changes alongside the update dates.

Act on website evidence

Correct errors that can be demonstrated. Improve weak explanations, update obsolete instructions and remove unsupported claims. Do not buy a supposed update-recovery package or chase a plugin score as if it were a Google ranking score.

For the next step, read How to Use Google Trends for SEO.

The useful question is which reader or technical problem you can fix, then how to measure the result. An update name alone is not an action plan.

Measure progress without promising rankings

Record a baseline in Search Console, make a documented change and compare relevant queries and pages over a suitable period. Check indexing, seasonality and tracking before attributing a change to one tactic. Tool scores and third-party authority metrics are diagnostic indicators; they do not determine your Google position. No method guarantees first-page rankings or an AI citation.