The exact dates, though, differed in the earlier studies, while the data on Google, which refers to
it as a small update, is as mentioned. The core update of December began in the 2nd week, and
the major impact was clearly visible by 15th December, including some websites within our
purview, which are listed below for the study at hand.

The core update in Dec 2025 is categorised by the industry and SEO fraternity as the harshest in
Google's history. Though its a bit early and the characterisation may still be under consideration,
but almost all available documents and studies, including AI, confirm the same. The factors
behind this analysis include Semrush's high volatility (rated 8.7/10) and the website losing
positions and traffic overnight, even for older domains. A major shift: Google has now
structurally prioritised user experience over sites that stuff keywords and don't engage clients
with relevant search queries, leading to higher bounce rates. It is looking to prioritise content
relevance and move away from the traditional approach, thereby undermining age-old SEO
beliefs.

Although the same was done in a phase-wise manner, initiated in early 2024, Google, to maintain
its dominance and stay relevant in the new age, faced challenges from other AI platforms and
began optimising its responses to real-world user expectations and customer delight. This can be
mapped to their fundamental quality matrix, represented by EEAT (experience, expertise,
authority, and trust). The matrix serves as a guideline for meeting standards and has been a major
principle for all their updates since 2022. If you are a businessman looking to scale or improve
your performance in response to these changes, this study will be key for you, as Google released
2 significant core updates during this 18-day period, thus impacting all sites and content in any
language across the globe.

As per the Google Search Central document for developers, they prioritise search signals based
on meaning, relevance, quality, usability, and context. They regularly do these core updates,
which impact search algorithms and systems.  Most of us will not have a clue unless traffic gets
hit. And this time, since it impacts 40-60% of websites (the number may vary from 40-80%, as
per the category of sites like news, reference sites, YMYL), the update is being seen as a big step
forward in how Google is looking to penalise any content that is not meeting the EEAT standard.

Digging deeper, we can find that the 18-day rollout that affected almost 40% of the business
worldwide was a step toward Google prioritising user delight and content relevance.

As per a recent interview with Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton , known for his contributions to
physics and regarded as the father of AI, only a few companies are prioritising the use of safe AI
and minimising the negative infiltration of AI. He named Google and Anthropic in his
observation, which are pursuing safe control over AI to limit its misuse, but he warns the world
of its implications if not limited, as we can't slow it down anymore. Countries and companies are
in a cat race to have an edge over each other, and with that in mind, we can't have the button to
slow down in our diction. A recent email from Google to all its Gmail users corroborates the
statement, announcing that it won’t use any unauthorised platforms to source data for its search
engine and AI platforms.

Previous core updates:

Here’s a timeline and our coverage of recent core updates:

The series of core updates so far, before Google pushed the final hammer.
( We will follow up the study with a related article on all the core updates so far, as listed above, by Mar 2026 for our users.)

The Insights:

We have summarised our findings and insights for the December 2025 core update in the report below.

The analyses are based on our Google data analysis, key observations from live case studies affected by the update, and screening of multiple platforms and tools for algorithm changes and updates, conducted by the editorial team for the last few days under the able guidance of Abhijeet Rajkeins and Mukti Sharma, who are part of the editorial team across multiple areas shaping careers and skills for Indian students. Both of them are the content leaders aligning creativity and business goals, with 15+ years of experience between them in driving impact stories, case studies, and brand strategies that shape the ecosystem in the digital and academic space, while leading SEO and AI content as a specialist head, delivering measurable results through research-based solutions.

The study also draws on insights from discussions with professionals such as award-winning Pascal Bornet from Miami, Florida; Rusty Brick; and Barry Schwtcz, all AI professionals working in the same field.

The Analysis and Impact:

Some of the Business verticals impacted are Media, News reference sites, finance, e-commerce, health, medical, Gaming and a few others. YMYL and finance sites saw the biggest surges or drops, and among those, finance was the hardest hit. YMYL sites, which were also part of the key business sectors, impacted by the Dec 25 update, saw significant volatility, driving traffic to nose-dive. The data are sourced from available internet sources, including Google Gemini and AI searches.

1. Affiliated Website: The biggest impact was felt by affiliate sites, with 71% of sites in the category impacted. For affiliate sites, the roadmap for recovery can be avoiding stock photo stuffing, replacing it with original photos, and focusing on human-centric experiences and interventions with verified claims and results.

2. Health, Finance, and YMYL: The second greatest hit was felt by these listed sites, with 67% of them impacted by the update. 67% of the YMYL category companies were hit by Google’s Core update in December 2025 and 90% of these companies hit on EEAT grounds. Since the category has always been under Google’s scanner, the actual case study and author bylines with real faces will serve as the basic ground for changing the impact. The YMYL sites should clearly list the credentials that they use to assure clients of the quality of product delivery, refund policies, and data privacy, with clear disclaimers. Instead of following indirect references, the sites should work on verified listings in sources and data used.

3. E-commerce: E-commerce sites experienced ranking volatility, particularly among those with thin product descriptions, resulting in a 30-50% drop in organic traffic in the segment. This means that the e-commerce site should now aim for statistically sound SEO practices, such as keeping LCP content below 2.5 seconds. An e-commerce site is exposed to multiple products, and client delight is optimal, which is linked to the site’s upload speed. The sites should list their hero products and rewrite their descriptions in line with the new EEAT format with conversational language. They should have clear shipping and refund policy pages. User-generated content will be a timeless contribution to their site's health, as sites like Meesho, a popular e-commerce platform, highlight actual user photos after they buy products.

4. IT sectors: The sector saw 43% of sites affected by the EEAT update, which favoured more insights and expertise over keywords and claims without verified data. The way forward for sites impacted in the sector is to demonstrate real expertise and shift from advice-driven to knowledge-driven approaches to solving the issues.

5. Local services and businesses: Local businesses, too, saw the impact of generic pages built on traditional SEO practices, a lack of ground and expertise, leading to 31% of the sector being hit by the update. Local sites can be back on the radar without much hassle. They can update their respective Google Business pages and products with clear business signs to establish local proof. They can also look to absorb community content and address the sectors in which they provide their respective services.

6. News and Journalism: News and journalism, too, saw the impact, though it comes low in the pyramid, and a major 23% hit was recorded in the sector. News and journalism should follow content honesty and integrity. The sites should avoid excessive ad density and ensure their site schemas are correctly configured for the sector.

The recommendations and solution: Why will the current study be an added benefit?

For our readers and users, it is based on real-time observation of some of our key sites. Additionally, our insights are supported by the observation that 99% of our sites saw an increase in organic traffic, from an average daily traffic of 5000 to 10000+ users, following the Google core update, with only a handful of sites impacted. ( Our follow-up article, real case study articles highlighting some examples of these websites, will be available for our readers by February 2026. Also, the fact that we have underlined certain best practices even before the AI or Google core update hit the market to enhance user experience and user delight when operating the webpages we handle shows our visionary approach and our understanding of advanced SEO and EEAT expertise. Some of the best practices we have undertaken are highlighting the daily queries, daily assistance, the real results section, and the Q&A section. One of our major highlights was improving the relevance and user experience in the very 1st section of our webpage, so a client doesn’t have to navigate from the landing page to avail of any options, with real-time data on the entire services, samples, reviews, current work, and results, all displayed in one go.

Before you plunge in with the highlighted changes, we have listed a few expert pointers as a reference for the changes you want to undertake. These insights are from our experience in handling real clients who are impacted. Though the impact is largely EEAT-based, the recovery roadmap will be slow and involve multiple layers of learning. Thus, our methodology here is a structural approach to the high-priority analysis of the impacted sites and a stepwise recovery journey. Instead of launching all the changes in one go, follow a phased approach and regularly review similar studies and recovery insights. As the impact is new, these studies will be floated later, after successful recovery statistics emerge.

A step-wise highlight of the roadmap for recovery:

1. Don't make major changes if your site is hit. Wait for the wave to settle, analyse, and then plan the changes in a phase-wise manner, as Google core updates can take time to cool down. Some estimates it to end of Jan 2026, but a 15-day window from the rollout, estimating it to 29th Dec 2025, should be a fair time frame.
2. If your site is hit, the TAT for the website to fetch the traffic might have to wait until the next update, which can be in a range of 3 to six months minimum. However, smaller changes might help in sending the right signal. Google did announce to roll out smaller core updates to feasel out the impact of major core updates, but the framework shared is estimated to be higher for such a bigger rollout in future.

3. Quick changes should be entirely avoided and only carried out if it impacts or improve the user delight.

4. Deleting content should be avoided and should be picked up only in case all other sources are exhausted, and if you find that multiple pieces of content can be summarised to one primary page to address bounce rate and user delight. Planning to change or delete a huge chunk of content can have a two-way impact. Prima facie, Google does not approve deleting content as the solution, but if a site was built on earlier guidelines and keyword stuffing, and the same now means deleting those to improve your existing page content, that might be helpful. The idea behind it should reflect the content's usefulness to users.

5. Remember that the Dec 2025 core update was linked to EEAT, and every update on your website you pursue based on the impact should establish the same factor. What impacts the EEAT factor is key before you start making headway. Review the products in your cart and identify gaps to build the expertise you need to meet your audience’s requirements and support it with relevant user case studies and experiences with your products. Providing the right signal is key to the website’s performance.

6. Don't pursue the changes based on Chat GPT or AI analysis and instead use tools like Google Search Console and SEMrush to analyse the changes post the update and compare the page on a case-by-case basis, and identify the traffic drop or changes in your ranked pages.

           The affected site may have the following attributes

• All ranked pages are not visible in the Google search engine and related search snippets.
• Some of your pages have dropped in Google ranking index
• Fluctuating Traffic or sudden organic traffic drop

      7. The top traffic pages were hit first in this update, and the smaller pages were impacted later, but the recovery can be just the opposite.

      8. Try to fix the 404-page errors, if any, with proper redirected pages, as most of the sites hit by the December core update had 404 pages.

      9. Check for dedicated pages for Privacy policy, refund, and compliance.

Now let’s study the changes you can pursue based on the above impacts. If your site is not visible in any related keyword searches compared to previous searches, Google has suppressed your site from the ranking index due to the new EEAT matrices. This means Google has not blacklisted your site, as this is done by the new software Google has updated, which would require you to make structural and content changes as per the new EEAT guidelines. Google will evaluate your sites and learn from the signals of the improvements you make, and it might take some time for your ranking to improve.

The changes you need to pursue, based on on-page crawling, content evaluation, and alignment with the December 2025 core update:

Focus on E-E-A-T:

i . Experience: You should try to create helpful, reliable and people-first content to improve the experience on your site and reduce bounce rates. Google has also made it compulsory that all rankings be calculated based on user experience and delight on mobile devices. Thus, a site speed will also be key to the experience.

ii. Expertise: Increase your credibility with more depth and real expertise

iii. Authority: Highlight your authority in the product or service that you are dealing with by providing relevant information and credentials for the client to review.

iv. Trust: Showcase how you ensure the quality and delivery of your products. Amplify external signals with detailed credentials of your expertise.

In certain scenarios, the performance can be improved by addressing issues such as keyword stuffing and by avoiding excessive or unnatural content used solely to rank for keywords. Improve thin content by removing duplicate or similar content across multiple pages.

Look further into the website’s content and check for blog posts generated by AI with no proper human intervention or citation to authors and facts. Address technical tweaks for crawl by submitting an updated sitemap, and avoid any toxic backlinks

Remove unnecessary and intrusive pop-ups, as they disrupt the user experience on your site.

Avoid overselling and funnel pages that lead directly to order pages, as this can signal the wrong inputs to Google, which is prioritising user relevance and delight while combing through the data. Further, look for demonstrated expertise verified by credentials rather than non-genuine claims.

Planning to change or delete a huge chunk of content can have a two-way impact. Prima facie, Google does not endorse deleting content as a solution; however, if a site was built on earlier guidelines and keyword stuffing, and the same now means deleting those to improve your existing page content, that might be helpful. The idea behind it should reflect the content's usefulness to users and improve the bounce rate.

Even AI-generated content should be properly credited to the source to build trust. A website may not be suppressed by Google solely for using AI content, but it may be if no human intervention is evident and the content is not used properly for users, as such data can be sourced from other relevant platforms too. 

The Google core update, as highlighted above, has significant impacts, and recovery for sites suppressed due to improper practices and EEAT violations will take time. Even if you were doing right on all parameters but fell short of genuine authentication of the experience and expertise, and your site was hit by the update, you can still build it up through your exposure and signals to Google about your updates and improvements as per the new EEAT standards. Thus, you need to be patient, and if you are working in a domain with the expertise to serve your niche, then you should not worry, as real clients make real studies and Google likes real experiences rather than false claims.

Give it the time and respect it deserves. Analyse deeply and identify your unique value, and explain why the client should prefer you over replicated models or products already available. In today's world, growth is not about copying; it must be driven by strengths and differentiation. Strong brands come from meaningful contributions to users’ preferences and choices.

Though Seo is outdated, advanced SEO is evolving beyond traditional practices. Keyword stuffing, keyword gap auditing by your digital marketing team, and backlink hoarding are no longer useful. The new age of website growth focuses on leveraging modern platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn Marketplace, and Meta-driven strategies to generate authentic, intent-led user engagement. Creating and amplifying the structure is a must for real user-generated content and is no longer an option-it is a strategic advantage.