Approximately 6 years, 211 English articles over 6 years (approximately 213 Chinese translations, with broad Chinese localization coverage).Core topics: Page Experience launch, evolution of Core Web Vitals (addition of INP), rollout of the Helpful Content Update → later merged into the core algorithm, the Product Reviews updates series, the beginning of the AI era (2023–2024), AI Overviews / AI Mode, and simplifying search results (large-scale cleanup of structured data).Writing style: Primarily written by Lizzi Sassman, with contributions from John Mueller / Martin Splitt / Daniel Waisberg / Gary Illyes, plus Cherry Prommawin (Asia-Pacific) and Duy Nguyen (spam). Office hours (online Q&A) have been published monthly on a regular basis since 2022.
Note: This wiki is a directory index of the blog;English titles are kept in their original form (they serve as citation identifiers for the articles, and translation would lose traceability). Annotations and explanations in parentheses have been translated into English.
2021 — Page Experience Launch + Product Reviews + Link Spam (50 articles)
4 major events:
- May 2021 for mobile + Q1 2022 for desktop:Page Experience ranking signal officially launched (a lightweight signal based on Core Web Vitals)
- April 2021 Product Reviews Update launched (first wave)
- July 2021 Link Spam Update (SpamBrain enters the link spam fight)
- 2021-08 Search Console Insights (Search Console + GA4 joint insights tool)
Key articles
- 2021-01: Introducing Google News performance report
- 2021-01:Index Coverage Data Improvements (improvements to index coverage data)
- 2021-02: Search Console Discover report now includes Chrome data
- 2021-03: New for education sites: Practice problems and Math solvers structured data (⚠️ Practice problem support was removed in January 2026)
- 2021-04:More time, tools, and details on the page experience update (more timelines, tools, and details on the Page Experience update, with detailed rollout pacing)
- 2021-04:What creators should know about Google's April 2021 product reviews update (what creators need to know about the April product reviews update, first wave)
- 2021-04: How we fought Search spam on Google in 2020 (annual review of how we combated Google Search spam in 2020)
- 2021-05: Prevent portions of your site from being abused by spam (preventing parts of a site from being abused by spam, UGC protection)
- 2021-05: Sunsetting the generic rich results search appearance on Search Console (retiring the "generic rich result" search appearance type in Search Console)
- 2021-06: Search Console regex filters update
- 2021-06:Learn how to improve your content with Search Console Insights (improving content with Search Console Insights)
- 2021-07:A new way to enable video key moments in Search (new ways to enable key moments for videos in Search, Clip / Seek markup, used by Vimeo)
- 2021-07:A reminder on qualifying links and our link spam update(Link Spam Update July 2021, qualifying link reminders + July link spam update)
- 2021-07:Analyzing Google Search traffic drops (analyzing Google Search traffic drops, classic 7-step diagnosis, cited multiple times in office hours)
- 2021-07:Updating our job posting guidelines to improve quality of results (updating job posting guidelines to improve quality, continuously updated in 2022 and 2024)
- 2021-08:An update to how we generate web page titles (update to how page titles are generated, announcement of the 9-source title link algorithm)
- 2021-08:Simplifying the Page Experience report (simplifying the Page Experience report)
- 2021-09:More information on how Google generates titles for web page results (more information on how Google generates titles, in-depth explanation of title overrides)
- 2021-10: Search Analytics API now supports Discover, Google News, and Regex
- 2021-11:Timeline for bringing page experience ranking to desktop (timeline for bringing Page Experience ranking to desktop, announced for Q1 2022)
- 2021-11: A 2021 update on mobile-indexing
- 2021-12:December 2021 Product reviews update (December 2021 Product Reviews Update)
2022 — Helpful Content Update + indexifembedded + Search Status Dashboard (37 articles)
4 major events:
- 2022-01-26
indexifembeddedrobots tag (used by iframe-embedded videos such as Vimeo) - August 25, 2022 Helpful Content Update first launched (English, later expanded to multiple languages)
- 2022-10 Site names in Search (displaying site names in search results, WebSite structured data)
- December 19, 2022 Google Search Status Dashboard launched
Key articles
- 2022-01:New robots tag: indexifembedded (new robots tag, ⭐ used in the Vimeo case + iframe noindex)
- 2022-01: Welcoming the new Search Console URL Inspection API
- 2022-03: Connecting Search Console to Data Studio
- 2022-03: Improving Product Review ranking, one year on
- 2022-03:Spring cleaning: the URL Parameters tool (spring cleaning: retirement of the URL Parameters tool)
- 2022-04: Optimizing website performance with a Search Console bubble chart (classic report analysis for optimizing site performance using Search Console bubble charts)
- 2022-04:How we fought Search spam on Google in 2021 (how we fought search spam in 2021, annual review)
- 2022-05:May 2022 core update (May 2022 core algorithm update)
- 2022-05:Spring cleaning: some sitemap extension tags are going away (spring cleaning: some sitemap extension tags removed, such as price / category)
- 2022-06:Googlebot and the 15 MB thing (the facts about Googlebot and the 15MB limit, debunking file size myths)
- 2022-06: How Google generates titles for documents with language or script misalignment
- 2022-07: Announcing the new Search Console Video index report
- 2022-08:What creators should know about Google's August 2022 helpful content update (⭐ what creators need to know about the August Helpful Content Update, HCU first launch)
- 2022-08: New in structured data: Pros and cons
- 2022-09:The new HTTPS report in Search Console (new HTTPS report in Search Console)
- 2022-09: New Search Console Merchant Listings report
- 2022-10:Introducing site names on Google Search (introducing site names in Google Search, WebSite structured data + 4-level fallback algorithm)
- 2022-10:A deep dive into Search Console performance data filtering and limits (in-depth look at Search Console performance data filtering and limits, classic data explanation)
- 2022-10: Back in business: Search Central Live events
- 2022-10: Refreshed guidelines for site owners
- 2022-11:Introducing our new guide to Google Search ranking systems (introducing the new Google Search ranking systems guide, documenting 14 systems)
- 2022-11: November Google SEO Office Hours (November office hours Q&A, the start of the official monthly series!)
- 2022-11:Start showing your products on the Shopping tab with Search Console (display products on the Shopping tab via Search Console)
- 2022-12:December 2022 link spam update(December 2022 Link Spam Update, second wave of SpamBrain)
- 2022-12:E-A-T gets an extra E for Experience(E-A-T adds an E for Experience, quality rater guidelines → E-E-A-T)
- 2022-12:Updates to Google's Services in Czechia in Light of the Czech Transposition (update services in Czechia based on Czech legislative transposition, EU compliance)
- 2022-12:Introducing the Google Search Status Dashboard(⭐ Introduces the Google Search Status Dashboard)
- 2022-12:Visual Elements of Google Search (visual elements of Google Search, visual elements gallery documentation)
2023 — INP + AI Content Guidance + Mobile-First Completion + Video Changes (48 posts)
4 Major Events:
- 2023-02 Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content(Position on AI-generated content)
- April 13, 2023 Videos must be main content(Simplification of video modes)
- May 2023 INP added to Core Web Vitals(Replaces FID)
- October 2023 Mobile-First Indexing officially completed(The 7-year long march ends)
Key Articles
- 2023-01:Spanish-language blog: Register for Search Central Virtual Unconference en español 2023 (registration for the Spanish-language unconference)
- 2023-02:Bulk data export: a new and powerful way to access your Search Console data(Bulk data export: a new way to get Search Console data, Search Console → BigQuery)
- 2023-02:Don't use 403s or 404s for rate limiting(Do not use 403 / 404 for rate limiting, repeatedly emphasized in office hours — use 429 + Retry-After)
- 2023-02:Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content(⭐ Google Search's official position announcement on AI-generated content)
- 2023-02:New updates to the Search Console Video indexing report
- 2023-03:Blending Search Console and internal data inside Looker Studio
- 2023-04:Japanese-language blog: Introducing #GoogleSearchOfficeHours
- 2023-04:The role of page experience in creating helpful content(The role of page experience in creating helpful content)
- 2023-04:Simplifying video presentation on Google Search Results(Simplifying video display in Google Search results, 2023-04-13 video "main content" rule)
- 2023-04:How we fought spam on Google Search in 2022 (annual report on combating spam in Google Search in 2022)
- 2023-04:Shipping and Returns information on Google Search web results
- 2023-05:Introducing INP to Core Web Vitals(⭐ Introduces INP to Core Web Vitals, INP replaces FID)
- 2023-05:Understanding news topic authority(Understanding authority for news topics, documentation of news ranking systems)
- 2023-05:How x-default can help you(How x-default helps you, hreflang x-default)
- 2023-06:Reporting search quality issues with a new user feedback form(Report search quality issues using the new user feedback form)
- 2023-06:Sitemaps ping endpoint is going away(Sitemaps ping endpoint removed, changes to the sitemaps.org protocol)
- 2023-06:Improving prominence reporting in the Search Console video indexing report
- 2023-08:Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results(⚠️ Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results, significantly reduced, desktop-only)
- 2023-08:The comedy of errors (anecdotes about 404 handling)
- 2023-09:How Google Search handles multilingual searches(How Google Search handles multilingual search)
- 2023-09:Associate Search Console to Merchant Center to discover growth opportunities
- 2023-09:Site names on Google Search now available for all languages(Site names now support all languages)
- 2023-10:Mobile-first indexing has landed - thanks for all your support(⭐ Mobile-first indexing is live — thank you for your support, the 7-year long march is over!)
- 2023-10:October 2023 Spam Update(October 2023 Spam Update)
- 2023-10:Vehicle listing structured data for car dealerships (⚠️ Deprecated as of September 2025)
- 2023-11:New in structured data: discussion forum and profile page markup(New structured data: forum discussion and profile page markup)
- 2023-11:Expanding markup support for Organization details, including Logo SD
- 2023-11:List your courses with new course info structured data (⚠️ Deprecated as of September 2025)
- 2023-11:A Q&A on Google Search updates
- 2023-11:Upcoming deprecation of Crawl Rate Limiter Tool in Search Console
- 2023-11:Search Quality Raters Guidelines update(Search Quality Rater Guidelines update)
- 2023-12:This is over (year-end farewell)
- 2023-12:Adding markup support for vacation rentals(Added markup support for vacation rentals, VacationRental structured data)
- 2023-12:Video mode now only shows pages where video is the main content(Video mode now only shows pages where video is the main content, 2023-04 rule officially takes effect)
2024 — Helpful Content merged into core + AVIF + AI Overviews included + Crawling December series (33 articles)
5 Major Events:
- 2024-03 March 2024 core update:Helpful Content Merged into the core ranking system;scaled content abuse policy + spam policy update
- June 2024 Launched on LinkedIn(Search Central team)
- August 2024 AVIF support in Google Search
- August 2024 AI Overviews logged in Search Console Performance reports
- October/November 2024 Sitelinks Search Box removed;cache: operator retired
- December 2024 "Crawling December" 4-article series(Educational, authored primarily by Gary Illyes)
Key Articles
- 2024-02:Adding structured data support for Product Variants(Added structured data support for product variants)
- 2024-02:New Search experiences in EEA: Rich results, aggregator units, and refinement chips (new search experiences in the European Economic Area: rich results / aggregator units / refinement chips, DMA compliance changes)
- 2024-02:The SEO Starter Guide got a makeover(SEO starter guide revamped, revised N times)
- 2024-03:⭐ What web creators should know about our March 2024 core update and new spam policies(What creators need to know about the March core algorithm update + new spam policies, HCU merged into core)
- 2024-04:Improving Search Console ownership token management
- 2024-06:We're on LinkedIn (finally)(We're finally on LinkedIn, social account expansion)
- 2024-06:Mobile-indexing-vLast-final-final.doc(Self-deprecating note that the mobile-first long march is finally done)
- 2024-06:Adding markup support for organization-level return policies
- 2024-07:Configure your shipping and returns directly in Search Console(Configure shipping and returns directly in Search Console)
- 2024-08:What to know about our August 2024 core update(Key points of the August core algorithm update, mid-year)
- 2024-08:⭐ Supporting AVIF in Google Search(Google Search supports AVIF, image format expansion)
- 2024-08:Introducing recommendations in Google Search Console(Introduces recommendations in Search Console, smart suggestions)
- 2024-09:Learn all about Google Trends with our new YouTube tutorials
- 2024-09:New Search experiences in South Africa: Badges and refinement chips
- 2024-10:⭐ Farewell, Sitelinks Search Box(Goodbye, Sitelinks Search Box, SearchAction structured data no longer used)
- 2024-10:Bringing Store ratings on Search to more countries
- 2024-11:⭐ Updating our site reputation abuse policy(Updated site reputation abuse policy, third-party content oversight also counts as a violation)
- 2024-12:🎄 Crawling December: HTTP caching(Crawling December: HTTP caching, Gary's 4-part educational series)
- 2024-12:🎄 Crawling December: CDNs and crawling(Crawling December: CDNs and crawling)
- 2024-12:🎄 Crawling December: Faceted navigation(Crawling December: Faceted navigation)
- 2024-12:🎄 Crawling December: The how and why of Googlebot crawling(Crawling December: How and why Googlebot crawls)
- 2024-12:🎄 Crawling out of December: the 2024 recap(Out of December: 2024 wrap-up)
- 2024-12:An improved way to view your recent performance data in Search Console
2025 — Robots Refresher + AI Experience + Major Structured Data Cleanup + Trends API (34 articles)
5 Major Events:
- February 3, 2025 Robots Refresher series(robots.txt educational review)
- May 2025 AI experience content guidance(Key ways to optimize content performance in AI experiences)
- 2025-06 Simplifying the search results page — Multiple structured data types retired (course / learning video / special announcement / vehicle / ClaimReview)
- July 2025 Google Trends API alpha launched
- 2025-12 Search Console AI-powered configuration(Intelligent assistant)
Key Articles
- 2025-01:Simplifying the visible URL element on mobile search results(Simplifying visible URL elements in mobile search results)
- 2025-02:Robots Refresher: introducing a new series(Robots protocol refresher: introducing the new 4-part series)
- 2025-03:Robots Refresher: Future-proof Robots Exclusion Protocol
- 2025-03:Robots Refresher: page-level granularity
- 2025-03:Robots Refresher: robots.txt — a flexible way to control how machines explore
- 2025-04:The Search Analytics API now supports hourly data(Search Analytics API now supports hourly data)
- 2025-05:App deep links: connecting your website and app(App deep links: connect your website and app)
- 2025-05:⭐ Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences(Key ways to ensure your content performs well in Google AI experiences, AI content guidance)
- 2025-06:Adding markup support for loyalty programs(Added markup support for loyalty programs / membership points, LoyaltyProgram structured data)
- 2025-06:The new Search Console Insights report is here(The new Search Console Insights report is here, rebuilt)
- 2025-06:⭐ Simplifying the search results page(Simplifying search results pages, major structured data cleanup: course / learning video / special announcement / vehicle listing / ClaimReview retired)
- 2025-07:⭐ Introducing the Google Trends API (alpha)(Introducing the Google Trends API alpha, first public release)
- 2025-09:Announcing the store widget: build shopper confidence and drive sales(Announcing store widgets: building shopper confidence and driving sales)
- 2025-10:Introducing Query groups in Search Console Insights
- 2025-11:Adding context to your Search Console data with custom annotations(Add context to Search Console data with custom annotations)
- 2025-11:More ways to share your shipping and returns policies with Google(More ways to share shipping and return policies with Google)
- 2025-11:Introducing the branded queries filter in Search Console(Introducing branded term filtering in Search Console, branded vs non-branded)
- 2025-11:Here's an update on our efforts to simplify the search results page(Midpoint progress update on simplifying search results pages)
- 2025-12:⭐ Streamline your Search Console analysis with the new AI-powered configuration(Simplify Search Console analysis with new AI-powered configurations, smart assistant)
- 2025-12:Introducing social channels in Search Console(Introducing social channels in Search Console)
- 2025-12:Introducing weekly and monthly views in Search Console(Introducing weekly and monthly views in Search Console)
2026 — Discover Core Update + back button hijacking + generative AI optimization guidance (9 articles)
Existing events(As of 2026-05 when this wiki was created):
- 2026-02 February 2026 Discover Core Update(Discover core update)
- 2026-03 Inside Googlebot(Deep dive into Googlebot, in-depth education on crawling / fetching / processing bytes)
- March 2026 New crawler IP range locations
- 2026-04 back button hijacking spam policy(Back button hijacking spam policy, new policy type)
- 2026-05 A new resource for optimizing for generative AI in Google Search(⭐ New resources for optimizing for generative AI search, complete myth-busting guide to AEO/GEO)
Specific existing articles
- 2026-01:Search Central Live is coming back to South America
- 2026-02:Google's February 2026 Discover Core Update
- 2026-03:Inside Googlebot: demystifying crawling, fetching, and the bytes we process(Deep dive into Googlebot: demystifying crawling / fetching / the bytes we process)
- 2026-03:New Location for the Google Crawlers' IP Range Files
- 2026-03:Search Central Live Asia Pacific 2026: Get Ready for Sydney and more!
- 2026-03:Search Central Live is coming to Canada!
- 2026-04:Introducing a new spam policy for "back button hijacking"(Introducing the new "back button hijacking" spam policy)
- 2026-04:Search Central Live is Coming to Shanghai in 2026!
- 2026-05:⭐ A new resource for optimizing for generative AI in Google Search(New resources for optimizing for generative AI search)
Summary of era characteristics
Core algorithm / policy timeline (6 years)
- 2021-05:Page Experience (mobile) launched
- 2021-04 + 12:Product Reviews updates (later expanded into a series)
- 2021-07:Link Spam Update (SpamBrain enters the scene)
- 2022-Q1:Page Experience (desktop) launched
- 2022-08:Helpful Content Update first rollout
- 2023-05:INP added to CWV
- 2023-10:Mobile-First Indexing completed
- 2024-03:Helpful Content Merged into core(No longer updated independently)
- 2024-08:August 2024 core update
- 2024-11:Site reputation abuse policy tightened
- 2025-06:Simplifying search results (major structured data cleanup begins)
- 2026-02:Discover Core Update
- 2026-04:Back button hijacking spam policy
AI era timeline
- 2023-02:AI-generated content guidance (evaluate output, not source)
- 2024-05 onward: AI Overviews (SGE → AI Overviews)
- 2024-08:AI Overviews counted in Search Console Performance reports
- 2025-05:AI features documented; guidance on using generative AI content
- 2025-06:AI Mode counted in Search Console totals
- 2026-05:Complete guide to optimizing for generative AI features(AEO/GEO are both myths)
Search Console evolution
- 2021-06:Search Console Insights launched
- 2022-01:URL Inspection API launched
- 2022-09:HTTPS report launched
- 2023-02:Bulk data export launched (→ BigQuery)
- 2024-08:Recommendations launched
- 2025-04:Hourly data support
- 2025-06:Insights rebuilt
- 2025-11:Branded term filtering + custom annotations
- 2025-12:AI-powered configurations + weekly/monthly views + social channels
Structured data (SD) wave (2021–2026)
Launches:
- Practice problems + Math solvers (March 2021, defunct)
- Pros and cons (August 2022)
- Discussion forum + Profile page (November 2023)
- Course info (November 2023, defunct)
- Vehicle listing (October 2023, defunct)
- Vacation rentals (December 2023)
- Product Variants (February 2024)
- Organization-level return policies (June 2024)
- Loyalty programs (June 2025)
Retirements(One-time in June 2025):
- ❌ ClaimReview / Course info / Estimated salary / Learning video / Special announcement / Vehicle listing / Book actions (partial)
- ❌ Sitelinks Search Box(2024-10)
- ❌ Practice problem(2026-01)
- ❌ Dataset (deprecated in Google Search, but still used in Dataset Search)
- ❌ FAQ rich result (May 7, 2026, but the markup itself can still be used)
- ❌ How-to (essentially retired)
Topic word cloud (2021–2026)
- "Helpful Content Update" / "core update" / "Page Experience"
- "INP" / "Core Web Vitals" / "FID"
- "Product reviews update" / "site reputation abuse"
- "AI Overviews" / "AI Mode" / "Generative AI" / "AI-generated content"
- "Simplifying search results"
- "Site names" / "title link" / "snippet"
- "Loyalty program" / "shipping policy" / "Product variants"
- "Crawling December" / "Robots Refresher" / "Inside Googlebot"
- "Search Console Insights" / "Bulk data export" / "Recommendations"
- "back button hijacking" / "scaled content abuse"
Reverse lookup guide
- Helpful Content Update → 2022-08 + 2024-03 (merged into core)
- Page Experience → May 2021 mobile + November 2021 / Q1 2022 desktop
- Core update → 2022-05 + 2024-03 + 2024-08 + 2026-02 Discover
- INP added to CWV → 2023-05
- AI content guidance → February 2023 + May 2025 + May 2026 (complete generative AI guidance)
- AI Overviews counted in SC → 2024-08
- Mobile-First completed → October 2023 (the 7-year long march ends)
- Major structured data cleanup → 2025-06
- FAQ deprecated → 2026-05-07
- Site reputation abuse → 2024-03 + 2024-11
- Crawling December 4-post series → 2024-12
- Robots Refresher 4-post series → 2025-02 / 03
- Trends API alpha → 2025-07
- back button hijacking → 2026-04
- 15 MB Googlebot myth → 2022-06
- Status Dashboard → 2022-12
- indexifembedded → January 2022 (used by Vimeo)
Related references
- Google Search Central Blog author directory (80 authors) — Lead author Lizzi Sassman + John Mueller / Martin Splitt / Daniel Waisberg / Gary Illyes / Cherry Prommawin / Duy Nguyen
- GSC Blog 2016–2020: Mobile-First / AMP / New Search Console / COVID Era — Continuing the mobile-first long march
- Google ranking systems + Core/Spam Updates + business information establishment — 14 current ranking systems + 4 retired + core update response
- Complete guide to rich results / Discover / Images / Video / Page Experience / Web Stories / SXG / Paywall — Discover / CWV / Page Experience current state
- Complete overview of Structured Data (framework + one-click lookup for 34 rich result types + JSON-LD/Microdata/RDFa selection) — 34 current structured data types + FAQ deprecation
- GSC Events + documentation update announcement timeline (2022–2026 / 12 documents) — Concurrent documentation update timeline
- Google SEO Office Hours highlights (2022.11–2024.08) + summary of 3 major FAQ topics — Concurrent office hours Q&A (2022.11–2024.08)
- How to use the Search Console + Analytics + Trends trio (traffic diagnostics / keyword research / Looker Studio) — 8 categories of current Search Console reports
Sources and related materials
- GSC Blog 2016–2020: Mobile-First / AMP / New Search Console / COVID Era
- Google Search Central Blog author directory (80 authors)
- Google ranking systems + Core/Spam Updates + business information establishment
- Complete guide to rich results / Discover / Images / Video / Page Experience / Web Stories / SXG / Paywall
- Complete overview of Structured Data (framework + one-click lookup for 34 rich result types + JSON-LD/Microdata/RDFa selection)
- GSC Events + documentation update announcement timeline (2022–2026 / 12 documents)
- Highlights from Google SEO Office Hours (November 2022 – August 2024) + Summary of 3 Major FAQ Topics