Google December 2024 Core Update Rolling Out

Published On - December 12, 2024

Marty Rogers
Google Christmas Core Update

It’s happening again – another Google algorithm update has just begun rolling out, and this one is expected to run right through Christmas, ending on or around Boxing Day. Yikes!

This is the fourth update of the year from Google, the others falling in March, August and November.

Google’s Christmas Core Update

Google’s November core update only finished rolling out 7 days ago, and today Google have announced another one that’s expected to take 2 weeks to fully roll out, which means it’ll roll out through Christmas Day, causing many business owners stress and anxiety during the festive period.

Here’s the tweet on X from Google Search Central:

Back in the earlier days at Google they used to avoid rolling out search algorithm updates around Christmas to avoid causing hardship to people, but it seems like those days are gone now.

Not great, really, why not just wait until January?

I feel for anyone who’s business loses large amounts of revenue overnight from a Google core update at this time of year. Christmas is a stressful period for most anyway, nobody needs to be worrying about their businesses as well, especially when money is tight for most families anyway.

But Google will do what they like, so let’s see how it plays out over the next 2 weeks.

What is a Core Update?

Google release many core updates throughout the year – they’re basically the equivalent to software updates on a computer, aimed at making the system more efficient, fixing flaws and adding new features.

The search and webspam teams over at Google are consistently assessing their search results, as well as taking in and weighing up user feedback, complaints and other information which highlights both the pros and cons of their current results. They then put together updates to fine tune results based on these assessments and feedback, to rebalance various ranking factors, and other such things.

What to do if you’re hit:

Unfortunately, if this core update does affect your business, there’s not much you can do.

Google don’t provide any helpful feedback or advice to business owners who are affected by algorithm updates, except to focus on producing good quality content for users, not search engines.

My advice if you get hit by this Christmas google update:

  • Focus on quality content and avoid large amounts of duplication
  • Avoid AI entirely – don’t risk your livelihood through laziness (remove any used)
  • Be consistent with input, and don’t leave your website to rot
  • Hire an expert like myself to help you navigate through the search landscape safely
  • Don’t quit, as difficult as that may be after a big hit

You can read more about Google’s core updates here.

If you need help with your business SEO, feel free to get in touch.