Google releases October 2023 broad core update

Google’s October 2023 core update is now rolling out and may take up to two weeks to complete.

This is the third broad core algorithm update of 2023. the first core update of 2023 was the March 2023 core update, which started rolling out on March 15 and was completed on March 28. The second core update of 2023 was the August 2023 core update, which started rolling out on August 22 and was completed on September 7.

The announcement. Google announced this on X and updated its search status page:

• “Released the October 2023 core update. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.”

What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past:

• There aren’t specific actions to take to recover. A negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages.
• Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update.
• Google said you can see a bit of a recovery between core updates but the biggest change would be after another core update.

Why we care. Whenever Google updates its search ranking algorithms, your site can do better or worse in the search results. Knowing when Google makes these updates gives us something to point to understand if it was something you changed on your website or something Google changed with its ranking algorithm. Today, we know Google has released a core ranking update, so keep an eye on your analytics and rankings over the next couple of weeks.

Although with the spam update rolling out at the same time, it might be hard to isolate which update or updates impacted your site.

Previous core updates. Here’s a timeline and our coverage of recent core updates:

• The August 2023 core update was on August 22nd and ended on September 7.
• The March 2023 core update was on March 15th and ended on March 28th.
• The September 2022 broad core update was less impactful than previous core updates and finished on Sept. 26.
• The May 2022 broad core update was a significant and fast update.
• The November 2021 core update 
• The July 2021 core update.
• The June 2021 core update, which was slow to roll out but a big one.

Other recent Google algorithm updates. Google is currently rolling out the October 2023 spam update, which can take three weeks to roll out. So this October 2023 core update and the October 2023 spam update will overlap. In September, Google rolled out the September 2023 helpful content update over a 14 day period.

You can read more about past Google updates here.