--- title: "March 2023 core update: dates, what changed and what to do" url: https://seomadman.com/updates/march-2023-core-update section: updates language: en published: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z author: Adam Hafez topics: ["Core updates"] --- # March 2023 core update: dates, what changed and what to do ## The short answer Google's March 2023 core update started on 15 March 2023 and finished on 28 March 2023, a 13-day rollout by the Search Status Dashboard's own dates. It was a broad core update with no Search Central blog post and no impact figures. Google's standing core update guidance applies: wait, compare the right weeks, and avoid quick fixes. ## Key takeaways - The Search Status Dashboard dates the rollout from 15 March 2023 to 28 March 2023, a 13-day run. - Google gave no Search Central blog post for this update and published no site-level impact figures. - Its dashboard entry said the rollout could take up to two weeks, and it finished within that window. - It began eight days after the February 2023 product reviews update finished, so the two did not overlap. - Google's core update guidance is to wait a full week after completion before comparing Search Console data. ## What Google changed The March 2023 core update was a broad core update. Google did not publish a Search Central blog post for it, and its [Search Status Dashboard](https://status.search.google.com/incidents/Cou8Tr74r7EXNthuEsaG) entry records only the release and completion. Google's general description of core updates is that they are "broad in nature, and don't target specific sites or individual web pages," and that they are designed to keep delivering "helpful and reliable results for searchers." Nothing Google published ties this update to a specific signal, content type or industry. Any claim that it targeted one is not sourced to Google. ## When it rolled out The dashboard says the incident began on 15 March 2023 and that "the rollout was complete as of March 28, 2023," a 13-day run in US/Pacific time. Its release entry notes that "the rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete," so it finished inside Google's own estimate. The release entry itself is timestamped 22 March 2023. That is because the dashboard only gained its Ranking area on 21 March 2023, as Google noted in its dashboard announcement post, so the entry was posted a week into the rollout. Use the incident dates, not the entry timestamp. No other confirmed update overlapped it. The February 2023 product reviews update finished on 7 March 2023, eight days before this one began. ## What is known about its impact Google published no impact figures for the March 2023 core update. Its core update guidance says pages that move down "aren't necessarily 'bad'"; other pages may simply serve the searcher better. Treat any percentage attributed to this update as a third-party estimate, and check its method. ## What site owners should do Google's standing guidance on core updates sets out the practical steps: - Confirm the rollout has finished, then wait at least one more full week. - Compare the week after with a week before the update began, not with the rollout window. - A small drop (position 2 to 4) needs no drastic action; a large, sustained drop warrants a site-wide self-assessment against Google's helpful, reliable, people-first content questions. - Avoid quick fixes. Improve content in ways that help readers; delete content only as a last resort. - Recovery can take months and may not show until a later core update. ## How to check whether it affected you In Search Console, set the Performance report to a range spanning February to April 2023 and compare clicks for the week before 15 March with the week starting 4 April 2023, one full week after completion. Look at Web, Image, Video and News search types separately, as Google recommends. The [Google Algorithm Updates timeline](/updates) lists every confirmed update with its dates, so you can rule out a nearby rollout before attributing a change to this one. ## Related updates - The [September 2022 core update](/updates/september-2022-core-update) was the core update before it. - The [August 2023 core update](/updates/august-2023-core-update) was the next one. - The [February 2023 product reviews update](/updates/february-2023-product-reviews-update) finished a week before it began. ## Frequently asked questions ### When did the March 2023 core update start and finish? The Google Search Status Dashboard says the incident began on 15 March 2023 and that the rollout was complete as of 28 March 2023, a 13-day run in US/Pacific time. ### Did Google explain what the March 2023 core update changed? Not in detail. There is no Search Central blog post for it. The dashboard entry only records the release and says the rollout may take up to two weeks. Google describes core updates in general as broad changes that do not target specific sites. ### What should I do if my site dropped during the March 2023 core update? Google's core update guidance is to wait at least a full week after the rollout finishes, compare that week with a week before it began, and only do a deeper assessment for large, sustained drops. It advises against quick fixes. ## Sources 1. [March 2023 core update (incident)](https://status.search.google.com/incidents/Cou8Tr74r7EXNthuEsaG) - Google Search Status Dashboard (primary) 2. [Introducing the Google Search Status Dashboard](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/12/status-dashboard) - Google Search Central Blog (primary) 3. [Google Search's core updates and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-updates) - Google Search Central (primary)