May 2020 core update: dates, what changed and what to do

What Google changed#

On 4 May 2020 Google SearchLiaison announced that it was “releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the May 2020 Core Update.” Google gave no detail on what changed and pointed to its standing guidance on core updates. It was the first core update since January 2020.

When it rolled out#

Google SearchLiaison posted on 4 May 2020 that the update was “now rolling out live,” adding that it “will typically take about one to two weeks to fully roll out.” Search Engine Roundtable put the start at around 3:50pm Eastern time. On 18 May 2020 Google posted: “The May 2020 Core Update rollout is complete.”

What is known about its impact#

Google published no impact figures for this update. Its core update guidance says these updates “don’t target specific sites or individual web pages,” and that pages which move down are not necessarily bad; other pages may simply serve the searcher better. Treat any winner or loser percentage attributed to this update as a third-party estimate.

What site owners should do#

Google’s core ranking systems are still in use today, and its current core update guidance applies to this update as much as to recent ones:

• Wait until a core update has finished, then at least one more full week, before judging.
• Compare a week after the update with a week before it began.
• Take no drastic action for small drops; for a large, sustained drop, assess the whole site against Google’s helpful content self-assessment questions.
• Expect recovery, if it comes, to take time and often a later core update.

How to check whether it affected you#

Search Console keeps only 16 months of data, so its reports no longer cover May 2020. Use archived analytics exports and compare the week before 4 May 2020 with the week starting 25 May. Search demand shifted heavily in spring 2020, so compare against the same weeks in other years too. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists the updates around it.

Related updates#

• The January 2020 core update was the previous core update.
• The December 2020 core update was the next one.