Mar 3 • Algorithm Updates & SEO News
Navigating the Waves of Change: Google’s Recent Algorithm Updates Explained For Marketing Agencies | Client Education Resource
The last few months have been one of the most volatile periods in SEO in recent memory. Google launched two major algorithm updates — one in December 2025 and one in February 2026 — that reshuffled rankings across virtually every industry. If your clients have been asking why their traffic changed, here is everything you need to know.
Update #1: The December 2025 Core Update (“The Core Before Christmas”)
Rollout Period: December 11 – December 29, 2025 (18 days)
Type: Broad Core Update — affects all of Google Search
Scale: One of the most significant updates of 2025, following smaller “mini-core” updates throughout the fall that foreshadowed it.
This was Google’s third and final broad core update of 2025, and it hit hard — right in the middle of the holiday season. Nearly 15% of pages that ranked in the Top 10 before the update disappeared entirely from the Top 100 by the time it finished rolling out.
What Google Changed:... Who Won and Who Lost:
Update #2: The February 2026 Discover Core Update
Rollout Period: February 5 – February 27, 2026 (22 days)
Type: Discover-Specific Core Update — affects Google Discover only, NOT traditional search rankings
Scale: Unprecedented — this is the first time Google has ever issued a standalone core update targeting Discover independently from Search.
Google Discover is the personalized content feed that surfaces articles on mobile devices and the Google app — without users ever typing a search query. This update was a complete overhaul of how Discover selects and surfaces content, and it signals that Google now considers Discover’s quality systems entirely separately from Search.
What Google Changed in Discover:
“This is not a standard core update. It is a standalone algorithmic overhaul of how Discover selects and surfaces content.”
— Affiverse Media
The Bigger Picture: Volatility Has Not Stopped
It is important for your clients to understand that ranking volatility did not end when these updates completed. Google has continued pushing what the SEO community calls “smaller core updates” — unconfirmed algorithmic adjustments that Google does not officially announce — throughout January and into March 2026. Tools like Semrush, Sistrix, and others have been registering near-daily elevated volatility signals since December.
This is the new normal. The era of “set it and forget it” SEO is over.
What This Means for Your Clients: Actionable Guidance
1. Audit for E-E-A-T Gaps
Review your clients’ most important pages and ask: does this content demonstrate genuine, first-hand experience? Are authors identified with relevant credentials? Is there evidence of real expertise beyond what any AI tool could generate? If the answer is no, those pages are at risk.
2. Prioritize Niche Depth Over Broad Coverage
Help clients identify their core areas of expertise and build content clusters around those topics. A site that goes deep on a narrow subject will consistently outperform a site that covers everything superficially.
3. Fix Technical Performance — Now
Page speed and interactivity are no longer just “nice to have.” Sites with poor Core Web Vitals are being measurably penalized. Conduct a technical audit and address LCP, INP, and CLS issues as a priority.
4. Evaluate the User Experience Holistically
Aggressive ads, intrusive popups, and anything that frustrates users before they reach the content are actively hurting rankings through Google’s Navboost system. A great user experience is now an SEO strategy.
5. Separate Your Discover Strategy from Your Search Strategy
If your clients generate meaningful traffic from Google Discover, that channel now operates under its own distinct set of rules. Audit their Discover performance in Google Search Console, clean up any sensationalized headlines, and invest in topical depth within their core subject areas.
6. Diversify Traffic Sources
The February 2026 update is a clear signal: no single Google traffic channel is stable. Email lists, social audiences, video content, and direct brand-building offer resilience that algorithmic feeds cannot.
Quick Reference: Update Comparison
The bottom line: Google is getting better at rewarding the real thing. Real expertise. Real experience. Real value for users. The agencies and clients who invest in substance over shortcuts will be the ones still standing — and growing — as this new era of search continues to evolve.
Sources: Google Search Status Dashboard, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Roundtable, GSQI (Glenn Gabe), SEOptimer, Affiverse Media
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Navigating the Waves of Change: Google’s Recent Algorithm Updates Explained For Marketing Agencies | Client Education Resource
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