Google algorithm: first assessment of the May 2020 Core Update

Google's latest update particularly affected certain sectors and SEOs do not agree on the extent of the phenomenon. Video game sites are among the most affected.

After the announcement of the passage of the May Core Update on Google's SERPs, SEOs are starting to draw up initial assessments. On social networks, some report movements of unusual magnitude, while others, on the contrary, have seen no change. According to Sistrix, the sites most affected, positively or negatively, are primarily streaming and gaming sites, and Micromania is the big winner. For Semrush, websites in the news, business, arts and entertainment, and online communities categories are the most heavily impacted by this update. Google for its part has not commented on the extent or content of its update.

The updates of the Google algorithm are numerous and regular and some have a notable impact on the SERPs and therefore on the natural referencing of sites. Bugs also affect the functioning of the search engine from time to time. Here is the follow-up.

May 2020 Core Update

SEO has observed movements of unusual magnitude in the search engine results pages since April 28, 2020, in the United States. On May 4, Smush already published a tweet in the morning to alert SEOs to a peak in volatility reached on May 2. A few hours later, via its Twitter account Search Liaison, Google confirmed the launch of an in-depth update of its algorithm. The habit has been taken since March 2019, Google is taking the lead and baptizing this update itself, according to a now-familiar pattern: month-year-Core Update.

January 2020 Core Update

The year has only just started, but for Google, the update season opened on January 13. It was from its Search Liaison Twitter account that the search engine announced at 5 p.m. French time the upcoming launch of a new in-depth update of its algorithm. As usual, the search engine did not give details on the content of this update. In another tweet, published exactly one hour later, Google said that this update was in progress and "will run in the various data centers in the coming days.