Google has confirmed the completion of its page experience update as of today. This update includes changes to the Top Stories carousel on mobile search, though adjustments to the Google News app will take an additional week to finalize.
The page experience update began its rollout on June 15th, with an anticipated completion by the end of August. Although it extended slightly beyond that deadline by about a week, the update is now essentially finished.
The announcement. “The page experience rollout is complete now, including updates to Top Stories mobile carousel. Changes to Google News app have started to roll out as well and will be complete in a week or so,” Google announced on Twitter.
No significant ranking changes. It’s important to note that this update was not expected to cause significant ranking changes in Google Search. The rollout was gradual, and Google had previously advised not to expect drastic fluctuations: “While this update is designed to highlight pages that offer great user experiences, page experience remains one of many factors our systems take into account… Given this, sites generally should not expect drastic changes,” Google stated.
Do not confuse with core updates. The page experience update, which incorporates core web vitals as a signal, should not be confused with core updates. They are independent of each other and do not impact one another. For context, the June 2021 core update was completed on June 12. Core updates typically result in more noticeable ranking changes for sites in Google Search compared to the page experience update.
Why we care. Many have been anticipating this update for over a year, and it is now officially rolled out. As a reminder, significant ranking changes are not expected from this update and should not be conflated with changes due to the recent or upcoming core updates.
