Page experience update for desktop: dates and what to do

What Google changed#

Google announced the timeline on 4 November 2021 in its Search Central post. The update extended the page experience ranking rolled out on mobile between June and August 2021 to desktop, “based on the same page experience signals.”

On desktop that meant the three Core Web Vitals metrics of the time (LCP, FID and CLS) with the same thresholds as mobile, plus HTTPS security and the absence of intrusive interstitials. Google wrote that “while the mobile-friendliness signal continues to be a part of mobile ranking, it won’t be a factor for desktop.” Where a site has separate desktop and mobile URLs, the desktop signal is based on the URLs desktop users see.

When it rolled out#

Google updated its post on 22 February 2022: “The page experience update is now slowly rolling out for desktop,” with completion expected by the end of March 2022. The Search Status Dashboard records an earlier finish: 22 February 2022 to 3 March 2022, a total of 9 days, all times US/Pacific. The dashboard entry was added on 22 March 2023.

No other confirmed update overlapped it. The March 2022 product reviews update began on 23 March, 20 days after this rollout completed.

What is known about its impact#

Google did not publish impact figures. Its current page experience documentation says Google “always seeks to show the most relevant content, even if the page experience is sub-par,” and that a great page experience can contribute to success where many helpful pages compete. Treat any percentage you see attributed to this update as a third-party estimate.

What site owners should do#

Google’s page experience guidance frames it as a self-assessment rather than a checklist to max out:

• Check desktop Core Web Vitals in Search Console, which added a Desktop section to its Page Experience report on 17 January 2022.
• Serve every page over HTTPS and avoid intrusive interstitials.
• Keep ads from distracting from or interfering with the main content.
• Do not chase a perfect score: Google says good Core Web Vitals do not guarantee top rankings.
• Note that INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vitals metric on 12 March 2024.

How to check whether it affected you#

In Search Console, filter the Performance report to the Desktop device and compare clicks for the week before 22 February 2022 with the week starting 11 March 2022, a full week after completion. Compare against mobile over the same weeks: a desktop-only shift fits this update. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists every confirmed update with its dates, so you can rule out overlapping rollouts before attributing a change to this one.

Related updates#

• The page experience update brought these signals to mobile ranking in 2021.
• The December 2021 product reviews update was the confirmed update before it.
• The March 2022 product reviews update was the next confirmed update.