Google shakes up its SERPs: here comes an unexpected core update
Like a summer storm: sudden and heralded only by the first claps of thunder. Yesterday evening, Google released the June 2025 core update, confirming the start of the rollout with its usual laconic tone, without any advance notice or further explanation beyond the usual recommendations for publishers. More surprising than the content is the timing: in recent years, summer updates have always arrived in August, while June has only seen updates in 2019 and 2021. However, clear signs had been evident for days—fluctuations in SERPs, spikes in tracking tools, heated comments in communities. Now it’s official. And the monitoring begins.
Google June 2025 core update: official information
The rollout began on June 30, and the start of the update was only communicated once operations had already begun via Google’s official channels. The estimated duration is approximately three weeks, although the window may vary: the March update, for example, ended after exactly two weeks. The intervention has been classified as a ‘core’ update and, as is usual in such cases, has not been accompanied by any technical documentation or specific instructions. The only official information is the note on the Search Status Dashboard, which will be followed – only once the rollout is complete – by inclusion in the release history.
For those expecting new recommendations or operational details, the answer is the same as always: those who publish original, reliable, and useful content have nothing to fear. Google continues to reiterate the centrality of its people-first approach, indicating editorial quality and user satisfaction as the fundamental criteria for gaining visibility. No immediate action is required from publishers, nor have any changes to the existing evaluation standards been reported.
What we know so far about this update
It’s worth listing the key points we need to know about this June update.
- What it is: A “Core Update” is a broad and significant update to Google’s global ranking systems and algorithms. It is not aimed at penalizing specific sites or correcting a single factor, but rather at recalibrating how Google’s systems evaluate the quality and relevance of content on a large scale.
- Start date: June 30, 2025. The first signs of the rollout were recorded around 4:30/5:00 p.m. Italian time (7:34 a.m. PDT).
- Expected duration: As usual, the rollout will take up to three weeks to complete. It is essential to keep this timeframe in mind so as not to jump to conclusions.
- Goal: The stated goal of every core update is always the same: to improve Google’s ability to surface high-quality, useful content created for people (the famous “people-first” approach).
This is the second “core” update of 2025 and comes just over three months after the previous one, maintaining an almost quarterly cadence for major releases. As always in these cases, we expect a period of adjustment and significant fluctuations, as we also highlighted in our analysis of the effects of the March 2025 Core Update.
An unexpected move: an unscheduled update?
In recent years, Google has accustomed the industry to a certain regularity: core updates are released on average every three to four months, with a tendency to concentrate the most extensive interventions in the spring and late summer. June, on the other hand, has rarely been the scene of core updates: it happened in 2019 and 2021, but since then, the summer has remained relatively stable until August.
The sudden release of an update at the end of June breaks this pattern and raises more than a few questions about Google’s current internal planning dynamics. It could be a simple change in timing, or the need to correct or refine some elements introduced with the March update, the most recent one before this. At the moment, however, there is no official information to support any hypothesis. The fact remains: the time window chosen is unusual, which is precisely why the announcement took many by surprise.
Why we care: impacts and areas to monitor
Perhaps it goes without saying, but Google updates are ‘earthquakes’ for SERPs because they have the potential to completely redefine the balance of visibility. As we have said, these are not targeted interventions aimed at specific content or misconduct: Google describes them as broad updates designed to refine the engine’s ability to return useful, high-quality results. This is precisely why they can affect any site in any industry.
The effects are never immediately apparent: during rollout, changes may be temporary, contradictory, or localized. But it is precisely at this stage that it becomes essential to observe the behavior of the main keywords, monitor the distribution of organic traffic, and compare performance with that of your closest competitors. The strongest fluctuations are often seen in informational and editorial content, but there is also an impact on commercial or transactional pages, especially if they no longer meet the user’s implicit expectations.
The areas to keep an eye on are always the same: strategic keywords, high-traffic pages, relevant thematic clusters, and sudden new rises in the competition. Any unusual movement can be a valuable signal. Although the update is still ongoing, the first trends are beginning to emerge right now.
Signs of volatility in recent days
Returning to the initial analogy, we must say that some thunder heralding the storm had already been heard in recent days. In particular, the weekend of June 28 and 29 was characterized by what Barry Schwartz of Seroundtable called “heated volatility,” with major international monitoring tools showing spikes of instability, signaling that something big was moving behind the scenes.
The sentiment within global SEO communities was also telling, with comments from webmasters describing, among other things
- Rankings “out of control,” changing from hour to hour.
- Traffic was experiencing sudden spikes followed by vertical drops.
- Pages ranked in the top 3 or in position zero were losing ground for no apparent reason related to black hat techniques.
These disturbances, unconfirmed until yesterday, were therefore symptoms of an imminent algorithmic update. Now we know for sure.
What we saw
Our data from the SEOZoom SERP Observatory also confirms these movements, showing a surge in variations between June 23 and 26, with off-the-scale percentages both in exits from the Top 10 and in large ranking variations. On June 25 alone, for example, the large change index exceeded 11%, confirming anomalous activity well above the average threshold.
Analysis of the historical graph also highlights an unusual concentration of peaks in the days leading up to the announcement, with a clear acceleration just before the weekend and a further “spike” yesterday. This behavior is part of a now recognizable pattern: before the rollout is officially confirmed, the SERPs often begin to show clear signs, which those with the right tools can already detect.
What to do and why we care
Every core update is a crucial moment for anyone who bases their business on organic visibility. Fluctuations can lead to significant losses or gains in traffic and, consequently, in conversions.
During the rollout, it is always a bad idea to act on impulse. Fluctuations in SERPs can last for days and only stabilize once the release is complete. For this reason, the first step is to monitor and document. Collecting data on the performance of key keywords, recording significant changes in rankings, and analyzing deviations in organic traffic will give you a solid foundation to work from later on.
Google repeats this with every update: there are no quick fixes. If content loses ranking, it does not mean that there is something wrong with the page. Rather, the evaluation system has changed, and the content may no longer be considered the best possible result. A critical analysis of the site and its content is needed: perceived value, depth, clarity, relevance to the search intent.
The advice is clear: avoid impulsive changes and wait until the rollout is complete before taking any concrete action. Only then will it be possible to assess the real impact of the update by cross-referencing data on ranking, traffic, and visibility. Those who work with advanced tools have the advantage of being able to read the signs before others, distinguishing between what is normal and what deserves attention.
How to react: the quick checklist
Here is a practical guide on how to approach the coming weeks.
- Stay calm and avoid impulsive reactions. The temptation to intervene heavily on the site after a drop is strong, but it is the wrong move. Rankings can fluctuate several times before stabilizing. Document everything, but don’t make drastic changes “in the heat of the moment.”
- Monitor your data closely. Now is the time to keep Google Analytics and Search Console open. Check ranking fluctuations for your main keywords, analyze changes in organic traffic, impressions, clicks, and average position. Also take a look at how your competitors are performing and keep SEOZoom open at all times, of course!
- Focus on the fundamentals (in the long term). Google has not provided any new specific guidance for this update. The advice remains the same, almost a mantra: create useful, reliable content designed for people, not search engines. Your compass must remain oriented towards the principles of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
And if your site has been negatively impacted, remember that it doesn’t necessarily mean that your pages have “something wrong.” It could simply mean that Google’s ranking systems have found more deserving content. Google itself recommends asking yourself a series of questions to self-assess the quality of your site.
There are no quick fixes to recover. Significant recovery, in most cases, comes with a subsequent core update, after working consistently to improve the overall quality of your site.
As always, we at SEOZoom will monitor the evolution of the June 2025 Core Update to provide insights into the impacts and trends that emerge. Good luck everyone!
