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SEOBurf Blog
Plain-language SEO and AI search analysis from 25 years of getting sites found. New posts most weeks.
Google May 2026 Core Update: What Happened and What to Do
The May 2026 core update ran 21 May to 2 June. An intent-destination reset, a 60% AI Overview CTR drop, and what to do about…
Google Just Acknowledged Vibe-Coded Websites – Here’s What It Means for SEO
Something shifted this week. Google’s John Mueller dedicated a chunk of his latest Search News video to what he called “vibe-coded websites”, sites built primarily…
Google March 2026 Core Update: What Happened and What to Do
The March 2026 broad core update started rolling out on March 27 and is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. It is…
The Wednesday Roundup
SEO and AI search news, tips and what is changing this week. No fluff. Free.
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What Is Information Gain and Why Does Google Care About It Now?
Most of the content I see losing rankings in 2026 is not spam. It is not thin. It is technically well-structured, keyword-optimised and covers the…
Google March 2026 Spam Update: What Happened and What to Do
The March 2026 spam update rolled out on March 24 and completed in under 20 hours. That speed tells you something. The August 2025 spam…
Google’s February 2026 Discover Core Update: What It Means for Your Content
A First of Its Kind On 5 February 2026, Google began rolling out something genuinely new: the February 2026 Discover Core Update. It was the…
January 2026 SEO Roundup: Settling After December’s Core Update
No New Update – Rankings Settle January 2026 brought no new Google core update or confirmed spam update. After the December 2025 core update wrapped…
Google December 2025 Core Update: The Year’s Biggest Algorithm Shift
What Happened Google’s December 2025 core update began rolling out on 11 December and completed on 29 December – a rollout that lasted 18 days…
November 2025 SEO Roundup: Steady Rankings and Growing AI Search Impact
No Core Update in November – But Don’t Relax November 2025 passed without a confirmed Google core update. That made it the fourth consecutive quiet…
October 2025 SEO Roundup: A Quiet Month Before the Storm
No Major Google Update in October 2025 October 2025 came and went without a confirmed Google core update or spam update. After the August spam…
September 2025 SEO Roundup: Spam Update Wraps Up, Search Console Glitch Causes Panic
The Spam Update Finishes Rolling Out September 2025 was shaped largely by the tail end of Google’s August spam update, which completed its rollout around…
Google’s August 2025 Spam Update: What Happened and What It Means
The August 2025 Spam Update Explained On 26 August 2025, Google began rolling out its first spam update in eight months. The August 2025 spam…
Something shifted this week. Google’s John Mueller dedicated a chunk of his latest Search News video to what he called “vibe-coded websites”, sites built primarily with AI tools like Bolt, Lovable, Cursor, or v0. His verdict? They’re essentially normal websites and generally fine for search. That’s a meaningful moment. It’s Google officially acknowledging that AI-built … Read more
The March 2026 broad core update started rolling out on March 27 and is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. It is the first broad core update of 2026 and the third algorithm event in seven weeks, landing two days after the March spam update finished and roughly a month after the … Read more
Most of the content I see losing rankings in 2026 is not spam. It is not thin. It is technically well-structured, keyword-optimised and covers the topic in the right word count range. The problem is that it says exactly what ten other pages already say, in roughly the same order, with roughly the same examples. … Read more
The March 2026 spam update rolled out on March 24 and completed in under 20 hours. That speed tells you something. The August 2025 spam update ran for 27 days. When Google wraps something up in less than a day, it either had a narrow target or the enforcement was already baked into systems waiting … Read more
A First of Its Kind On 5 February 2026, Google began rolling out something genuinely new: the February 2026 Discover Core Update. It was the first time Google had ever announced a core update specifically targeting Google Discover – the interest-based content feed that surfaces articles, videos and content to users on mobile devices and … Read more
No New Update – Rankings Settle January 2026 brought no new Google core update or confirmed spam update. After the December 2025 core update wrapped up on 29 December, the algorithm entered a stabilisation period – a relatively normal pattern following a significant core update rollout. For sites that had seen volatility during December, January … Read more
What Happened Google’s December 2025 core update began rolling out on 11 December and completed on 29 December – a rollout that lasted 18 days and ran straight through the holiday season. It was the third and final core update of 2025, and by most accounts the most significant of the year. The timing was … Read more
No Core Update in November – But Don’t Relax November 2025 passed without a confirmed Google core update. That made it the fourth consecutive quiet month following the June 2025 core update – a longer-than-usual gap that had much of the SEO industry bracing for a significant year-end update. Historical patterns suggested a December update … Read more
No Major Google Update in October 2025 October 2025 came and went without a confirmed Google core update or spam update. After the August spam update wrapped up in late September, the search algorithm entered a period of relative stability. That said, “no confirmed update” does not mean nothing is happening. Google makes smaller, unannounced … Read more
The Spam Update Finishes Rolling Out September 2025 was shaped largely by the tail end of Google’s August spam update, which completed its rollout around 22 September. For sites that had seen volatility since late August, the end of the rollout brought some clarity – ranking positions stabilised, and the impact became easier to assess. … Read more
The August 2025 Spam Update Explained On 26 August 2025, Google began rolling out its first spam update in eight months. The August 2025 spam update took just under four weeks to complete, wrapping up around 22 September. It was the first spam-focused update since December 2024. Spam updates are different from core updates. Where … Read more
