Naughty or Nice? Google Gifts Us a December Core Update

Earlier this month, at the Google Search Central Live event, Google revealed it was working on the next core update and that it would be out soon. This was just days ago.

Yesterday, Google announced the start of the update:

“This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.”

So, a similar story to other recent core updates. Here’s what we know so far:

• The core update started at 09:25 PST on December 11, 2025
• The rollout could take up to three weeks to complete
• This is the third core update of 2025, following the March core update (March 13-27) and June core update (June 30-July 17)

Google also updated its core updates documentation in December, ahead of the announcement. It now says this:

“We’re continually making updates to our search algorithms, including smaller core updates. These updates are not announced because they aren’t widely noticeable, but they are another way that your content can see a rise in position (if you’ve made improvements).”

Based on Google’s expected rollout, the December core update could end on New Year’s Day. For businesses keeping an eye on their website’s performance, the busy holiday season isn’t an ideal time for volatility or uncertainty in the SERPs.

Last year, Google hinted at more frequent core updates in 2025. So far, that hasn’t been the case. 2025 has had three core updates (in March, June, and December) and one spam update in August. In 2024, we had four core updates in total.

And, with it being December, it’s unlikely we’ll match that 2024 total before the new year rolls in.

We’ve seen a few blips of volatility over the last few weeks – a common sign of an imminent update – and some volatility trackers have started to spike with the rollout of the December core update:

While movement is expected before, during, and after a core update, I’m not seeing anything too extreme across the tools right now. We’ll keep you posted as the update rolls out.