Google May Core Update: What changes are you seeing?

[alec5]

Recently I’ve been watching the impact of Google’s May Core Update, and the volatility seems quite noticeable this time, with very different behavior across sites.

Just as a quick context, after the big fluctuations in March, a lot of SERPs were already in a phase of reshuffling, so this May update feels more like a continuation of adjustments rather than a completely separate shift.

What I’m more interested in is what others are actually observing in practice—whether rankings are moving across the board or only specific keywords are shifting, and whether the changes are gradual or more sudden jumps.

It would also be interesting to see if different page types are behaving differently, like content pages vs commercial pages vs category pages.

Overall it still feels like the system is in a tuning phase without a very stable pattern yet.

What are you seeing on your side?

 

[Assclown]

F@K google. They can save us a lot of time by just making it "AN ANSWER ENGINE"

NO more "Search Update" . No more SEO

 

[alec5]

F@K google. They can save us a lot of time by just making it "AN ANSWER ENGINE"

NO more "Search Update" . No more SEO

SEO now feels like trying to decode Google’s mood swings every month

 

[ads studio]

SEO now feels like trying to decode Google’s mood swings every month

This is attually true and stressfull and i have been seeing a similar pattern honestly. A lot of movement feels more like Google is still recalibrating things from the earlier shifts rather than rolling out something fully settled.

 

[tespirevwo]

Some of my category pages dropped first, then partially recovered a few days later.
Feels like Google is still adjusting things in waves honestly.

 

[lucky boyy]

If it's an update, then changes are inevitable. But SEO will have a hard time deciphering them.

 

[alec5]

This is attually true and stressfull and i have been seeing a similar pattern honestly. A lot of movement feels more like Google is still recalibrating things from the earlier shifts rather than rolling out something fully settled.

Yeah, I’ve noticed the same pattern. It feels like Google is still recalibrating from earlier updates rather than anything fully stable yet.

Some of my category pages dropped first, then partially recovered a few days later.
Feels like Google is still adjusting things in waves honestly.

Is it stable now?

If it's an update, then changes are inevitable. But SEO will have a hard time deciphering them.

Yeah, that’s the hard part with SEO right now.

 

[OpalDigital]

I've noticed content pages moving around more than category pages so far.
Some rankings are fluctuating daily, then returning close to their previous positions.
That usually tells me Google is still testing adjustments.

 

[seopowergirl]

So far I haven't seen any dramatic changes on the sites I'm watching but there has definitely been more ranking movement than usual A couple of pages gained positions while others dropped slightly which is pretty normal during a core update Personally I try not to make quick changes when updates are rolling out because I've seen rankings fluctuate for a few weeks before settling down

 

[Mark_Veteran]

seeing crazy daily jumps too. my informational pages are bouncing around like crazy but transactional/category pages are mostly holding steady. it feels like google is heavily filtering out sites that over-optimized for conversational or ai overview clicks. absolute mess right now, best to just log out of search console until next week.

 

[Zahid SEO]

I'm seeing a lot of volatility as well. A few of my pages have moved up and down several times this week without any changes on my side. From past updates, I've learned not to react too quickly because rankings often settle once Google finishes rolling everything out. Right now I'm mostly monitoring things and avoiding major site changes.

 

[alec5]

I've noticed content pages moving around more than category pages so far.
Some rankings are fluctuating daily, then returning close to their previous positions.
That usually tells me Google is still testing adjustments.

Content pages show more volatility than category pages.

So far I haven't seen any dramatic changes on the sites I'm watching but there has definitely been more ranking movement than usual A couple of pages gained positions while others dropped slightly which is pretty normal during a core update Personally I try not to make quick changes when updates are rolling out because I've seen rankings fluctuate for a few weeks before settling down

Some websites remained unchanged, while others experienced brief fluctuations in exposure.

seeing crazy daily jumps too. my informational pages are bouncing around like crazy but transactional/category pages are mostly holding steady. it feels like google is heavily filtering out sites that over-optimized for conversational or ai overview clicks. absolute mess right now, best to just log out of search console until next week.

We'll just have to wait for the update and check the data for the next week.

I'm seeing a lot of volatility as well. A few of my pages have moved up and down several times this week without any changes on my side. From past updates, I've learned not to react too quickly because rankings often settle once Google finishes rolling everything out. Right now I'm mostly monitoring things and avoiding major site changes.

I'm still updating content normally, which shouldn't trigger Google's rules, right?

 

[KamranKhatri]

I'm seeing a similar pattern. Some of my sites experienced noticeable fluctuations during the first few days, but most of the movement has been on informational keywords rather than commercial or buyer-intent terms. A few pages dropped temporarily and then recovered, which makes it feel more like Google is still testing and re-evaluating results rather than applying a permanent ranking change.


What's interesting on my side is that sites with strong topical relevance and regularly updated content seem to be holding up better. Category and commercial pages haven't moved much, but several blog posts have seen ranking shifts in both directions. I agree that this update feels like a continuation of the adjustments we've been seeing over the last few months rather than a completely separate event. It will probably take a few more weeks before the real winners and losers become clear.

 

[TheStrategos]

Recently I’ve been watching the impact of Google’s May Core Update, and the volatility seems quite noticeable this time, with very different behavior across sites.

Just as a quick context, after the big fluctuations in March, a lot of SERPs were already in a phase of reshuffling, so this May update feels more like a continuation of adjustments rather than a completely separate shift.

What I’m more interested in is what others are actually observing in practice—whether rankings are moving across the board or only specific keywords are shifting, and whether the changes are gradual or more sudden jumps.

It would also be interesting to see if different page types are behaving differently, like content pages vs commercial pages vs category pages.

Overall it still feels like the system is in a tuning phase without a very stable pattern yet.

What are you seeing on your side?

I have noticed reddit threads are still showing a lot for many keywords ranking seems to be moving around but google still appears to favour real discussion and user generated content. Feels like they are still tweaking things rather than Rolling out a clear cut update

 

[MrDenz]

@alec5, please use the multi-quote option. Thank you.

 

[alonelywriter]

Not that much changes. usual For my personal website.

 

[Steptoe]

I'm seeing that bizarrely TrustPilot seems to be the UGC platform of choice this time round - it's ranking for all sorts of casino keywords.

 

[gmc93]

Google turns into a Karen....

Mass Deindex of many of my sites (sites that ran for years without issues) , too many AI answers when searched something followed by Ads .... (Basicly BIG F*CK YOU for SEO) ... more restrictive even on Ads account (kind of turning into meta ads accs with fast bans) ....

Is not a complete Karen yet, but expecting it to be soon....

 

[Steptoe]

too many AI answers when searched something followed by Ads .... (Basicly BIG F*CK YOU for SEO)

Yeah, I read a study recently which gave a figure of 86.7% of Google searches triggering AI overviews: https://peec.ai/blog/ai-overviews-is-the-most-undertracked-ai-search-500-000-prompts-show-why

 

[Singha ferm]

I am seeing more keyword level movement than full site changes Some pages gain visibility while others on the same site stay flat Category pages seem more volatile in a few niches It definitely feels like Google is still adjusting signals rather than settling into a stable pattern yet