Google core and spam updates in March 2026 how did you do?

Googles March 2026 core & spam update completed . How did your site(s) do?

  • Huge increase - a 25% or more increase in traffic v's before 18th March 2026

    Votes: 18 13.6%

  • Small increase

    Votes: 42 31.8%

  • Drop and then rebound 3 weeks later

    Votes: 14 10.6%

  • Small drop

    Votes: 33 25.0%

  • Lost more than 25% of my traffic v's before 18th March 2026

    Votes: 25 18.9%
  • Total voters
    132
  • Poll closed .
Had a small drop after the spam update, but things bounced back a bit after the core update—feels like Google’s just tweaking quality signals, not hitting sites too hard.
 
Advertise on BHW
Lost 25%-30% of my traffic after 18th March 2026.
 
For my 2 websites, traffic increased around 10% & going stable, But my friend's website lost it 50% traffic, we both are trying to find the reason behind it but didn't reached to a conclusion yet. Although on both websites, everything is according to the guidelines.
 
For my website, the traffic has increased... but many people are complaining about a drop in traffic, Mix reaction are coming.
 
Based on the projects I've seen (mostly in the US, in competitive niches), there was a drop immediately after the update, but about two weeks passed, and then a partial recovery occurred. Then, rankings either stabilized or continued to decline, depending on the level of support.

I noticed that pages without a constant influx of links lost rankings, even if the content was decent. DR didn't play a role (sometimes high DR dropped, while low DR, but with active support, held up). The biggest impact was the speed of link building after the update. Also, in several cases, 15-30 contextual links after the update not only restored rankings but also boosted some queries' rankings.

I concluded that this looks less like penalties and more like an overestimation of the page's authority over time. Are you seeing the same thing?
 
After analyzing the website performance across two segments, service-based technology and gambling niche, here are the key observations:

1. Service-Based Technology Website

The service-based website has shown positive and stable growth trends:
  • After a minor ranking fluctuation, the site has recovered well and improved its SERP positions
  • A significant number of keywords have moved up in rankings
  • Organic traffic has increased steadily
  • We are seeing:
    Higher unique visitors
    Improved click-through rate (CTR)
    Strong average position improvements
Overall, performance in this segment is stable and moving in the right direction, and we are satisfied with the progress so far.

2. Gambling Niche Websites

The gambling segment shows a more volatile performance pattern, which is expected given the competitive and sensitive nature of this niche:
  • A few pages have achieved strong rankings for primary keywords
  • However, some pages have
    Dropped or disappeared from SERPs for core keywords
  • Despite this, those pages are still
    Ranking for secondary / long-tail / Brand and diversified keyword
    Maintaining some level of visibility and traffic
3. Recovery & Backup Strategy

We are actively working on a backup and recovery plan to regain positions for primary keywords:
  • Strengthening topical relevance and content depth
  • Adjusting anchor strategy and link distribution
  • Reinforcing pages with supporting content and internal links
  • Building additional authority signals to stabilize rankings
 
We've lost a lot of leads, and we're seeing less traffic and fewer conversions. We haven't been getting many leads from BHW for the past month or two at most. It used to be going well.

EJ
 
Bumping this thread so we can reach more members and get more answers.
 
I experienced a drop in traffic on one site that lasted until early April, but by now it has almost completely recovered.

On another site, where links are currently being built through external publications with AI-generated content, I noticed that some of these links have started to drop out of the index. However, this hasn’t noticeably affected rankings or traffic yet.
 
Voted and shared my experience... saw a small drop initially, then recovery within a couple of weeks once things stabilized. Sites with strong topical content and clean, relevant links held up better overall. Made minor content and internal linking adjustments which seemed to help during the rollout.
 
Both my gaming and themepark oriented sites have lost traffic. Interesting enough though both have a lower bounce rate and are trending up with session duration. Mind, I have not updated either site in some time but I have been sending traffic through various social media sources. So the traffic is't horribly down. It would probably be worse if I relied on google.
 
Honestly, my local sites didn’t crash or explode — mostly a meh drift. A few dropped, a few recovered; conversions didn’t tank though. It feels like Google is rewarding real, helpful local content and solid business signals, not just more pages. If you got hit hard, maybe trim thin pages and focus on clear CTAs and local trust signals — that helped me a bit.
 
Small drop in traffic, fewer users, higher number of impressions.
Overall, not affected that much.
 
just voted! my site traffic dropped more than 30% after the march core update - especially the money pages faced a hit. branded traffic looks stable while non-branded traffic was a drop. even after post update fluctuations, the traffic hasn't got back. any inputs will be so helpful :)
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top