Yes, recovery is possible, but a significant traffic drop following a Google algorithm update indicates a mismatch between your website’s current performance and Google’s evolving ranking signals. Google’s core updates, occurring several times annually as of December 2025, aim to reward websites demonstrating Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) – factors increasingly weighted in search results.
Google Search Console, freely available to Australian businesses, provides data on performance fluctuations and identifies potential issues. Currently, Search Console’s ‘Core Web Vitals’ report highlights page experience metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – all ranking factors. The system uses real user data collected via Chrome browser usage (with user privacy controls in compliance with Australian Privacy Principles) to assess these metrics. Google’s AI-powered systems, including RankBrain (continuously refined as of December 2025), analyse search queries and website content to determine relevance. In 2026, Google is expected to further integrate its Gemini AI model into search ranking, potentially increasing the importance of semantic understanding and content quality. The system doesn’t penalise directly; it re-ranks based on these signals.
Ultimately, Google’s ranking system functions by continually evaluating websites against its defined quality guidelines and adjusting search results accordingly, using a complex interplay of algorithmic factors and AI-driven analysis.
