Hi, folks. We hope you’ve had a great 2025. If you’re still looking for Christmas presents, allow us to recommend these Hotwheels-size remote control cars (there are sports cars and trucks). They’re inexpensive and everyone likes them (boys, girls, adults, and children). If those won’t do the trick for you, you can take a look at all this Waffle House merch.
Most of you are probably aware of the fact that Google’s December 2025 core update is underway. The Google Search Status Dashboard indicates that this update will finish within a day or two of January 1.
We want to use today’s newsletter to clear up a notable misconception about Google core updates. These updates are not aimed at local search. Core updates are primarily about Google Search’s core ranking systems, or the mechanisms that order organic rankings. Local rankings have their own framework.
Local search results are based on thousands of algorithms, but those algorithms can mostly be grouped into three big buckets: relevance, proximity, and prominence. The relevance part of the equation deals with how well a business matches what someone is looking for. Those algorithms ensure that you don’t see tire shops when you’re seeking fresh squeezed juice. Proximity is pretty straightforward. Those algorithms determine where you are and what you’re looking for (people will travel further if they’re in rural areas or looking for expensive products/services), then show you relevant businesses within an appropriate radius.
The prominence part of this equation needs its own paragraph. This is the aspect of local search that can sometimes be affected by core updates. In local search, prominence has to do with how well-known, established, and trusted a business appears. Google determines these things by looking at reviews, citations, links, website authority, and brand strength. If and when a core update has an impact on local search, it’s by way of the website authority sliver of local search’s prominence component.
It’s impossible for us to count the number of local search-based digital marketers who bemoan Google core updates. That is why we felt the need to spell this out clearly. We’re not talking about situations where marketers need to cite a disruptive update to retain an unhappy client. We understand that dynamic, and everyone should do what they need to. We’re talking about discussions between marketers that clients are blind to. We’re not saying that Google doesn’t push updates that affect local search because that happens all the time. The difference between local search updates and core updates is that Google (usually) does not announce updates to local search (the last local search update that Google announced was in November 2021). Google never made an official announcement about the most impactful local search update of all time– the possum update (a name that marketers came up with) in 2016.
To summarize the newsletter up to this point: core updates usually have a negligible impact on local rankings. If this is something that was already clear to you, please forgive us for belaboring this point. We felt it necessary because there does not seem to be much clarity about this in the local search marketing ecosystem.
We hope everyone has a wonderful winter break. We’re going to leave you these closing links until we reconnect with you in 2026. First up is an article from Search Engine Journal called Why Google’s Spam Problem Is Getting Worse. It explains why you’re seeing more garbage than usual in your Search results these days. Next, from Hootsuite, is 250+ free social media templates to save your team HOURS. Tying in to that, today’s third link is Become a Social Media Creator in 2026: Your 9-Step Plan from Buffer. On a more serious note, our second-to-last link is Prove You’re Human from Bloomberg. It’s about the state of AI deepfakes and the way they affect things from video calling to copywriting. Finally, take a look at How Small-Town Museums Are Going Viral from The Wall Street Journal. The success that small museums are having on social media these days is genuinely remarkable.
We’ll see you next year. Be safe and enjoy the holidays.