--- title: "September 2019 core update: dates, what changed and what to do" url: https://seomadman.com/updates/september-2019-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"] --- # September 2019 core update: dates, what changed and what to do ## The short answer Google's September 2019 core update went live on 24 September 2019, the same day Google announced it on its SearchLiaison account on X. Google never stated a finish date: its Danny Sullivan said Google did not post when core updates ended, only that they typically took a few days to fully roll out. ## Key takeaways - Google announced the update on the morning of 24 September 2019 and it went live that afternoon. - Google said it would roll out across its data centers over the coming days. - Danny Sullivan said Google did not post when core updates ended, so no finish date exists. - Google pointed site owners to its August 2019 blog post on core updates for guidance. ## What Google changed On 24 September 2019, Google SearchLiaison posted: "Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the September 2019 Core Update." Google said its guidance was unchanged, and linked to the blog post it had published on 1 August 2019 about core updates. Google did not describe any specific ranking change. That post set out the advice Google still repeats: pages that drop in a core update "haven't violated our webmaster guidelines," and "there might not be anything to fix at all." ## When it rolled out Later on 24 September 2019, Google SearchLiaison posted that the update was "now live and will be rolling out across our various data centers over the coming days." Google's Danny Sullivan said that same day that core updates typically took a few days to fully roll out, and that Google did not post when they ended. There is no Google-stated finish date for this update. ## 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. 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 September 2019. Use archived analytics exports or rank tracking data from September and October 2019 and compare the weeks either side of 24 September. BERT launched a month later, so keep your window short. The [Google Algorithm Updates timeline](/updates) lists the updates around it. ## Related updates - The [June 2019 core update](/updates/june-2019-core-update) was the previous core update. - The [January 2020 core update](/updates/january-2020-core-update) was the next one. - [BERT](/updates/bert-2019) launched in the month after this update. ## Frequently asked questions ### When did the September 2019 core update start? Google SearchLiaison announced it on 24 September 2019 and posted that afternoon that it was live and would roll out across Google's data centers over the coming days. ### When did the September 2019 core update finish? Google did not say. Danny Sullivan said Google did not post when core updates end, because other updates are always happening too, and that they typically take a few days to roll out. ### What guidance did Google give for the September 2019 core update? Google pointed to its August 2019 Webmaster Central blog post on core updates, which said there might not be anything to fix at all for pages that perform less well. ### Does Google still announce when core updates finish? Yes. Since 2020 Google has posted when core updates complete, and today it records start and end dates on its Search Status Dashboard. ## Sources 1. [The September 2019 Core Update is now live](https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1176555933364887552) - Google SearchLiaison on X (primary) 2. [Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update](https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1176473923833225221) - Google SearchLiaison on X (primary) 3. [What site owners should know about Google's August 2019 core update](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates) - Google Search Central Blog (primary) 4. [Google to release September 2019 core update later today](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-september-2019-core-update-later-today-28267.html) - Search Engine Roundtable 5. [Google Search's core updates and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-updates) - Google Search Central (primary)