May 2026 · Refreshed weekly
From kunaldabi.com/google-algorithm-update-may-2026/ · Kunal Singh Dabi · KD Digital
| Tracker | Normal Range | May 6-8 Reading | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mozcast | 65-75°F | 86°F | 🟡 Elevated |
| SEMrush Sensor (US-EN) | 4-6 | 9.1 | 🔴 Very high |
| AccuRanker GRUMP | 4-6 | 7.4 | 🟡 Elevated |
| Algoroo | 0.5-2.5 | 4.8 | 🟡 Elevated |
Three-of-four trackers flagging unusual movement = soft-confirmed update for tracking purposes.
| Update | Dates | Duration | Volatility | Key Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2025 Core | Mar 13–27, 2025 | 14 days | Moderate | Baseline shifts |
| June 2025 Core | Jun 30–Jul 17, 2025 | 17 days | High | E-E-A-T weighting up; affiliates first hit |
| August 2025 Spam | Aug 26–Sep 22, 2025 | 27 days | High | Link spam + manipulative content |
| December 2025 Core | Dec 11–29, 2025 | 18 days | Very high | E-comm −52%, health −67%, affiliates −71%; top-3 churn 66.8% |
| February 2026 Discover | Feb 5–26, 2026 | 21 days | Moderate | Discover-only (first ever); local up, clickbait down |
| March 2026 Spam | Mar 24–25, 2026 | <1 day | Low | All languages, fast cleanup |
| March 2026 Core | Mar 27–Apr 8, 2026 | 12 days | Extreme | Most volatile EVER. Top-3 churn 79.5% |
| May 2026 ??? | May 6–ongoing | TBD | Yellow-to-red | STEALTH — aggregators bleeding, niche sites gaining |
| Site Type | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregators / comparison sites | ↓ Hit | Same as March 2026; KD accounts down 22-31% |
| AI-content-at-scale (no expert oversight) | ↓ Hit | Cleanest pattern in the data |
| Sites with broken canonical clusters | ↓ Hit | Algo exposing pre-existing canonical errors |
| Affiliate-heavy comparison content | ↓ Soft hit | Same as Dec 2025 |
| Auto-generated local pages | ↓ Soft hit | Hand-built location pages stable |
| Government / institutional .gov / .edu | ↑ Gain | E-E-A-T calibration continues to weight institutional trust |
| Niche specialist platforms (3+ years focused) | ↑ Gain | Cohort that wins every E-E-A-T-leaning update |
| Established brand .coms with deep content | ↑ Gain | Especially in queries previously dominated by aggregators |
| Sites with substantive content updates | ↑ Gain | Honest "last updated" datelines reward content |
| If You Were Hit | If You Weren't |
|---|---|
|
1. Don't make reactive changes for 14 days 2. Run the 5-min GSC diagnostic 3. Document the impact (work-queue) 4. Run 8-step recovery playbook on May 22+ 5. Monitor weekly for 4-8 weeks |
1. Set up volatility monitoring (Mozcast + Sensor) 2. Follow the 12-account X watchlist 3. Run quarterly diagnostics regardless 4. Bookmark this tracker for next time 5. Audit your E-E-A-T proactively |