Page experience update (2021): what it changed and what it means now

What Google changed#

Google announced the timing on 19 April 2021 in a Search Central post. It said it would “begin using page experience as part of our ranking systems beginning in mid-June 2021,” and that page experience “won’t play its full role” until the end of August.

The update combined the three Core Web Vitals metrics, LCP, FID and CLS, with existing signals: HTTPS security, mobile-friendliness and the absence of intrusive interstitials. Google also opened the Top Stories carousel to any news page that meets Google News policies, ending the AMP requirement, and added a Page Experience report to Search Console.

When it rolled out#

On 15 June 2021 Google Search Central posted on X that “the page experience update is now slowly rolling out,” to be complete by the end of August 2021. On 2 September 2021 it posted: “The page experience rollout is complete now, including updates to Top Stories mobile carousel.”

The rollout overlapped the June and July 2021 core updates, both parts of the June 2021 spam update and the July 2021 link spam update, so a change that summer may have several causes. Google’s later desktop post described this update as rolled out on mobile “between June and August 2021.”

What is known about its impact#

Google published no impact figures. It said that “page experience remains one of many factors our systems take into account,” and that “sites generally should not expect drastic changes.” Treat any percentage you see attributed to this update as a third-party estimate.

What site owners should do#

Google’s ranking systems guide no longer lists a separate page experience system. Its current page experience guidance says there is “no single signal,” that core ranking systems look at a variety of page experience signals, and that Core Web Vitals “are used by our ranking systems.” Google suggests you:

• Check Core Web Vitals in Search Console; INP replaced FID as a metric on 12 March 2024.
• Serve pages over HTTPS and make sure content displays well on mobile devices.
• Avoid intrusive interstitials and ads that interfere with the main content.
• Do not chase a perfect score: Google says good scores do not guarantee top rankings.

How to check whether it affected you#

Search Console keeps 16 months of data, so its reports no longer cover 2021. Use archived analytics exports and compare mobile traffic in the weeks before 15 June 2021 with the weeks after 2 September. Because several updates overlapped, check the Google Algorithm Updates timeline before attributing a change to this one.

Related updates#

• The Speed Update made page speed a mobile ranking factor in 2018.
• The page experience update for desktop brought these signals to desktop.