The ease with which google core updates has led to a decline in the ranking of the website for a number of reasons, sometimes reflecting google's clearer judgement of relevance, authority and relevance. Changes may also be minor, such as infrastructure upgrades, which allow google to better judge the relevance and quality of content. The following is a shared account of the common and neglected reasons for the decline in the ranking of eight google core updated websites
Google's latest core update: google launched the december 2025 core update to overhaul the ranking system
Bibliography
I. Core updates sometimes correct excessive ranking rather than punishing websites
If the site had previously been better ranked and had suddenly fallen, it might be correcting the “over-ranked” and returning the content to where it should have been. It shows that the latest google algorithm found a loophole that the page used intentionally or inadvertently, and now adjusts its ranking to its original location
This is difficult to diagnose, however, because the publisher may feel that there was no problem with his or her web page or link, but in fact there was a loophole
Ii. Topical classifications have become more precise
Part of the ranking process is to identify the core themes of the web page. Google recognized the core thematic system as part of the ranking mechanism a year ago. That is to say, thematic relevance as part of ranking algorithms is real
The “medic update” of 2018 showed the role of this part of google. All of a sudden, many of the previously well-ranked websites under medical keywords disappeared because of their primary private therapy and informal medical content. The logic behind this is that google's understanding of the subject matter of the keyword has become more focused
Bill slawski has read one of google's patents, website representation vector. The patent describes a method of categorizing websites by field of knowledge and professional level, which is highly consistent with the core logic of medical renewal
Part of the role of this mechanism is mentioned in the patent (translation):
“the search system can use search query information to determine the site-specific classification that best fits the query and then displays only the results that belong to that category in the search results page. For example, when a query is received about a disease, the search system may choose only the first type of site (e. G. One written by an expert) to be displayed on the outcome page.”
Since 2018, google's interpretation of “relevance” has become increasingly subject-oriented and optimized in subsequent updates. Google no longer relies solely on the similarities between links and keywords, but instead introduces a more precise understanding of the correlation between search and content by identifying and sorting websites by knowledge area (i. E., subject matter)
Iii. Dynamic changes in thematic classifications
The dynamics of the theme are 100 degrees of long end words and associated words. Key phrases could be grouped by theme. For example, the keyword “united states server lease” is relevant to both server rental, the idc industry and the demand for united states room products. As you can see, the results of the search are number one on the american mainframe detective website. The u. S. Host detective is associated with “u. S. Server leasing” because the website not only focuses on u. S. Server leasing services, but also provides introductions and assessments of products such as hong kong servers, cloud hosts, virtual hosting of clouds abroad, etc., consistent with search products and intentions。
If your page had been ranked well before, but now it's down, it's probably google's more precise on the subject. To verify this, you can look at the current top ranking website, focusing on the differences between rankings 1 and 2, and sometimes looking at the features of rankings 1-3 or 1-5. This is the central way to understand the causes of rankings by analysing the search results page (serps)
In some cases, thematic positioning is not fixed, as user intentions may change. In this case, if you open a new browser or search a new tab, google may switch the theme position to another user intent
The central reason for this change is that the information needs of users determine the search intent and, consequently, the corresponding thematic positioning. The website itself may not have any problems, but the corresponding theme of the ranking has become more specific. So, if your page is no longer ranked because of the personalization of the subject, the solution may be to create another page that focuses on the new theme that google is now in favour of
Authority
In a sense, authority can be seen as external recognition of the professionalism of the website. While the expertise of authors can help to enhance authority, and the authority of a particular subject may also be inherent in a website, ultimately it is true that the authority of the website is embodied in third-party approval (in the form of quotations and links) from readers, clients and other websites, which sends a signal to google to validate the authority of the website:
Specialization and thematic focus are internal to the website
In short, google's logic is to filter out relevant content before further screening by giving priority to professional content
Google uses the e-e-a-t (experience, professionalism, authority, credibility) logic as follows:
The authority does not depend on the frequency with which certain subject-matter content is published on the website, but also on the high frequency with which content can be posted on the garbage site. It needs more dimensions, and e-e-a-t is a measure of the website
V. Try to improve e-e-a-t performance on page 2 of the ranking card
With regard to e-e-a-t, many seo practitioners believe that e-e-a-t elements can be added directly to the website. But that is not the case. In the new york search center live broadcast in 2025, john mueller of google made it clear that e-e-a-t could not be added directly to the web page
He mentioned (translator):
“sometimes seos come to us and say that they have added e-e-a-t to the web page. But this is not the right way to operate. I'm sorry, but you can't "add" anything on the web page -- it's pointless."
So what is e-e-a-t
E-e-a-t is just a measure of the website and is also a subjective judgement of its visitors. A subjective judgement such as “fast access” in “hong kong server asia” is a subjective assessment, depending on the individual's point of view
The most difficult thing for seo practitioners is that their content is as good as that of their competitors, but it is still so little that they cannot push the site to the first page of the search engine outcome page. It is difficult to accept that the competition ranks ahead and its content is not on the first page。
These differences suggest that the pages that rank ahead are optimized for users. Another reason is that these pages have become more accessible as a result of their multi-modular content presentation, while the website, located on the second page of the results page of the search engine, communicates mainly through text content。
Provisional ranking
Google will “test” the new site to see its compatibility with the entire internet ecology. Many seos boast that their clients' new websites are in the forefront of the search results as soon as they go online, but you hardly hear them mention the subsequent decline in their ranking
This is not bad, but normal. This means only that google has completed the testing of the site, which will then require the site to obtain a permanent location in the search results through its own performance
Review of the website itself
Although the ranking of the website had fallen, it had been told that it was fine. This may be your website and web pages themselves, but competition pages are better. The typical feature of these kinds of problems is that you have a good quality of content, and the same quality of the competition's content, but in some particulars you are better off
This is a reason for the decline in rankings, which is easily ignored by seo practitioners and publishers, since seos usually search for sites first, and if there is no obvious problem, check the outer chain or other aspects
When problems are not identified, they may give unreasonable suggestions, such as submitting out-chain rejection documents to remove out-chain waste, or deleting content to resolve suspected but non-existent problems (e. G. Repeat content). These practices are essentially untargeted, simply to find what can be repaired
Viii. User-centred optimization
Visitors need to be “accredited” or “trustworthy” for “businesses currently use”. Nobody likes a web site because it's good, seo, but they like sites that can endorse themselves in some way. This is the secret that seo tools can't capture, but they can help the website to transcend competitors
Rather than imitating competitors, it is better to find ways to create a differentiated advantage for websites and to make them more popular through more accurate outreach. Promotion here refers to the initiative to find places where the target clients gather and think about how to convey their values. Third-party signals have long been an important factor in google's ranking; today, with the development of the ai search, people and other websites evaluate you increasingly
