Google’s core algorithm updates, which started in August 2024 but caused massive traffic disruptions in November 2024, appeared to stabilize in December and January 2025. However, by late January and February 2025, yet another unexplained change wreaked havoc on traffic worldwide.
As global website owners and publishers struggle to identify the cause of these drastic fluctuations, frequent algorithm updates are leading to significant financial losses. The latest wave of disruptions has raised concerns about an unannounced core algorithm update, with media organizations worldwide trying to decipher the sudden changes.
Türkiye’s Media Plans Large-Scale Lawsuit Against Google
Following a statement from Türkiye’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, assuring media outlets that the government “stands behind them,” several major Turkish media organizations are preparing a large-scale lawsuit against Google for unfair competition.
Google has always treated its search ranking algorithms as a “trade secret.” However, news websites have experienced extreme fluctuations in their Discover traffic. The increasing involvement of AI in ranking algorithms has led to more frequent updates, turning the situation into a nightmare for news publishers worldwide.
The last major core update came in two phases in 2024, starting with the August 2024 update. After this update, websites saw traffic crashes in both Google Search and Discover, prompting complaints that lasted over four days. Google acknowledged the issue and claimed to have resolved it by August 20, 2024.
However, new core updates followed in November and December 2024, further destabilizing website traffic. The disruptions continued until the U.S. Presidential Election concluded, causing some major news sites to experience traffic drops as high as 90%. Even Europe’s largest news websites were left puzzled by the severe impact.
After these updates, Google positioned the changes as “quality updates.” By early January 2025, traffic seemed to be recovering and even surpassing previous levels. However, from the last week of January onwards, new waves of severe traffic drops sparked speculation of another unannounced core algorithm update.
Global Publishers Sound the Alarm Over Google’s Frequent Updates
Over the past 10 days, major publishers in Germany, the UK, and Türkiye have reported extreme traffic declines. The biggest concern is the increasing frequency of these updates. What used to be a rare event every few months has now turned into monthly updates, devastating ad revenues for content-based websites.
Google Remains Silent Amid Türkiye’s Legal Action
March 8, 2025 Update: Following a minor traffic recovery on March 3-4, 2025, Türkiye’s news sites saw another sharp decline on March 5, 2025. Meanwhile, Google’s Search Ranking Algorithm Update List still only mentions the December 2024 update, which lasted 7 days and 2 hours. Google has yet to acknowledge or explain the recent disruptions.
In response, a group of Turkish news publishers is finalizing preparations for a lawsuit against Google. In an interview with Milliyet, Minister Uraloglu urged Turkish media to take legal action, stating, “Google’s practices must be challenged, and we support you.”
Before filing the lawsuit, media organizations plan to release a joint press statement. There are also claims that Google has privately met with select, undisclosed media organizations to discuss these ongoing ranking issues.
Source: CNBC-e/ Prepared by: İlayda Gök