Google Begins Rollout of December 2025 Core Search Update

Google has begun rolling out its December 2025 core update, according to an announcement on the company’s Search Status Dashboard. The update started at approximately 9:25 a.m. Pacific Time on December 11, 2025, and is expected to take up to three weeks to fully deploy.

The December release is Google’s third core update of the year, following earlier rollouts in March and June 2025. Core updates are among the most significant changes Google makes to its search ranking systems, often resulting in widespread fluctuations in search visibility across many industries and regions.

Overview of the Update

On the Search Status Dashboard, Google describes the December update as an “incident affecting ranking.” As with previous core updates, it represents a broad adjustment to how Google’s systems evaluate and rank content, rather than a targeted change focused on spam, links, or a single ranking signal.

Google has emphasized that core updates are designed to improve the overall quality and relevance of search results. As a result, they can affect websites that comply with best practices as well as those that do not, depending on how Google’s systems reassess content in comparison to other available results.

Core Updates in 2025

The December update follows two earlier core updates this year:

• March 2025 core update: Rolled out between March 13 and March 27, completing in roughly 14 days. Data from multiple SEO monitoring platforms indicated volatility levels comparable to the December 2024 core update.
• June 2025 core update: Ran from June 30 through July 17, lasting approximately 16 days. SEO tracking tools characterized it as one of the more impactful core updates in recent years. During this period, some websites affected by the September 2023 Helpful Content Update experienced partial recoveries.

Historically, Google’s core updates tend to roll out over a period of two to three weeks, though the degree and timing of ranking changes can vary significantly by site.

Documentation Changes Ahead of the Rollout

Two days before the December update began, Google revised its core updates documentation to clarify how ranking improvements can occur outside of major announced updates.

The updated guidance states that site owners do not necessarily need to wait for a large core update to see the effects of improvements. Google noted that it continually deploys smaller, unannounced core changes that may result in ranking increases when content quality improves. These changes are typically less noticeable at a broad scale and therefore are not formally announced.

According to Google, the documentation update was intended to clarify how ongoing algorithm adjustments interact with content improvements over time.

Implications for Website Owners

During the rollout period, ranking and traffic fluctuations are expected. Google has repeatedly stated that a decline in visibility following a core update does not automatically indicate that a page violates guidelines or contains errors. Instead, core updates reflect a reassessment of content relevance and usefulness relative to competing pages.

The recent documentation update reinforces the idea that search performance can change between major updates as Google continues to refine its systems incrementally.

What to Expect Next

Google will confirm when the December 2025 core update has fully rolled out via the Search Status Dashboard and its Search Central communication channels.

Based on previous updates this year, the rollout is likely to complete within two to three weeks. Website owners and SEO professionals typically monitor performance trends throughout this period and note when significant changes occur in relation to the rollout timeline.