Google local search update timeline
Confirmed Google updates and Business Profile changes that affect local results. Every entry links to its source.
September 2026 spam update
Google's spam update rolled out over about 13 days. Not local-specific, but spam updates can remove spammy sites and listings' landing pages from results.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardMay 2026 core update
Broad core update, rolled out over ~12 days. Local SEOs on Reddit reported map pack swings and some keywords losing the map pack during the rollout.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardMarch 2026 core update
Broad core update, rolled out over ~12 days.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardDecember 2025 core update
Broad core update, rolled out over ~18 days.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardJune 2025 core update
Broad core update, rolled out over ~17 days.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardMarch 2025 core update
Broad core update, rolled out over ~14 days.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardGoogle Business Profile chat and call history shut down
New chats stopped July 15, 2024; chat and call history ended completely July 31, 2024.
Source: Google Business Profile HelpMarch 2024 core update
A large core update that ran 45 days, alongside the March 2024 spam update.
Source: Google Search Status DashboardNovember 2021 local search update ("Vicinity")
Google confirmed a local search update from Nov 30 to Dec 8, 2021 that "involved a rebalancing of various factors." The community named it Vicinity: proximity weighed heavier and keyword-stuffed business names lost ground.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable (quotes Google Search Central)Google My Business renamed Google Business Profile
Google renamed GMB to Google Business Profile and moved single-location management into Search and Maps.
Source: 9to5GoogleGet the weekly local search forecast
One short email: what moved in Google Maps this week, which industries and cities got hit, and what to do about it.