Google Core Updates: Digital publishers call for greater transparency & accountability

News and content websites have reported significant drops in traffic and rankings just a fortnight after the rollout of Google’s June 2025 core update. While publishers across news, ecommerce, BFSI, food, beauty and other platforms reel under the impact, Google maintains that its core updates are broad in nature and aimed at improving how its systems evaluate and rank high-quality content across a wide range of topics—not to penalize specific websites or sectors. 

These updates, it says, can result in both positive and negative fluctuations, with some previously under-recognized content gaining visibility. Through references to its undated explainer blogs, Google insists that no special action is needed post-update, apart from continuing to produce relevant, helpful, and trustworthy content. 

But news publishers, especially those worst hit, dismiss these reassurances as vague and formulaic—mirroring the pattern seen with past updates. “The guidance is always generic, never addresses the real issues,” one publisher said, reflecting a broader sense of frustration within the digital news industry.

“Every time there's a core update, Google gives us the same vague playbook. There’s no clarity on what changed or how to recover lost traffic. For publishers relying on search visibility, it feels like flying blind,” a senior executive at a leading digital newspaper said.

Industry experts agree. Sandeep Amar, founder of PDlab.me, who analysed the impact of the June 2025 update through a recent survey, echoed the sentiment: “This is the standard Google response. They never explain specific changes in rankings or why traffic drops—or increases—for individual websites. Publishers are left to guess, once again.”

The consequences are already visible on the ground. A digital head at a leading English daily revealed, “When ChatGPT launched, we saw about 54% of our readers stop clicking on news websites. After Google’s latest Core Update, that number has gone up to nearly 85%. Many small and mid-sized websites have lost rankings—and with that, we’re staring at a bigger drop in digital ad revenue.”

“The June 2025 Google Core Update has once again reminded publishers of one hard truth: Search is evolving, but it’s not always clear how or why,” says Hemant Jain, Head, Lokmat Digital. 

Jain noted, “We acknowledge Google’s intent behind its core updates—to improve search quality and reward high-value content. However, as a leading Marathi-language media house, we are compelled to express our growing concerns over the mismatch between Google’s stated goals and the real-world effects seen across Search, Discover, and the newer AI-driven experiences.”

Lokmat’s Google Analytics reveals three troubling trends, Jain explains, “First, ethical, analytical, and deeply reported content often reaches fewer users, while click-driven, sensationalised headlines dominate visibility on platforms like Google Discover. Second, despite aligning with Google’s intent, our high-quality journalism is getting deprioritised in favour of content formats that favour engagement over substance. Last but not the least, the rise of AI Overviews and generative results is compounding the challenge. Users are now less likely to click through to publisher websites, even when our reporting articles are the backbone of the AI-generated summaries.”

Publishers’ demand

Digital publishers across India, especially regional and language-first platforms, are calling for greater transparency and accountability from Google in the wake of sweeping changes to algorithms. Many believe that without a clear understanding of how rankings are determined or traffic is distributed, even high-quality journalism risks being buried under algorithmic noise.

Our bare minimum expectations from Google are to disclose and explain the mechanics behind Discover and AI Overview rankings, says Jain, “Additionally, involve major regional publishers in product testing and updates, and offer recovery frameworks tailored for local-language platforms. Ensure AI-generated answers provide proper attribution and direct fair traffic back to the original publishers.”

“At Lokmat, we are unwavering in our mission to deliver truthful, insightful, and ethical journalism in Marathi. However, we urge Google to acknowledge the crucial role regional publishers play in India’s information ecosystem—and ensure that algorithmic advancements do not compromise media diversity and sustainability,” Jain noted. 

Updates or Googlequake?

e4m on Wednesday reported that Google’s June 2025 updates, rolled out on June 30, believed to have led to significant reshuffling of search engine result pages (SERPs), causing traffic spikes and rankings for some and sudden drops for others—seemingly overnight. 

While the official release of updates was June 30, industry leaders claim SEO rankings have been on a rollercoaster since June third week, and publishers are feeling the heat. Between June 16 and 18, the churn intensified, with major SEO trackers reporting the highest fluctuation signals since the March core update. 

The tremors aren’t limited to media alone—ecommerce and BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) websites have also been significantly impacted with the majority of these experiencing traffic drops ranging from 20-50%, according to a survey conducted by Pdlabme. 

This has raised fresh concerns over platform dependency and the unique nature of search engine updates. 

Potential impact on ad revenue 

The development has triggered unease among digital publishers, particularly with the high-stakes festive season approaching. Many in the publishing industry fear that the sudden loss in search rankings could directly impact their advertising potential and seasonal revenue.

For many brands also, this period is critical for performance marketing and customer acquisition, and SEO-driven visibility plays a major role in campaign success. “It’s hard to plan festive ad budgets when organic reach becomes unpredictable,” said a marketer. 

The latest EY-FICCI Media & Entertainment report highlights that while print media is on a recovery path post-pandemic—with newspapers and magazines experiencing modest growth—the sector has not yet regained its pre-COVID revenue levels. Advertising revenues remain 14% below pre-pandemic figures, although there has been a notable increase from Rs 16,595 crore in 2021 to Rs 19,250 crore in 2023, stated the report.