What is a Google Core Update?

A Core Update is a broad update to Google's algorithm whose objective is not to penalize specific sites, but to reorder the results to show more useful, relevant, and reliable content.

The December 2025 Core Update: Quick Context

The Google December 2025 Core Update was rolled out between December 11 and 29. It was the third and final Core Update of the year.


Although overall volatility was more contained than in other updates, its impact was very clear in sectors such as:

➔ Ecommerce

➔ Membership

➔ Generic informational content

➔ Sites with a heavy reliance on AI

The pattern was consistent: fewer shortcuts, more real value.


It's important to understand this: Google doesn't punish. Google re-evaluates.
Each Core Update adjusts how the search engine interprets signals such as:

➔ Content quality

➔ Brand authority

➔ Real experience

➔ Trust

➔ User experience

And when those signals change in weight… the ranking shifts.

What impact can a Core Update have on your website?

Depending on your starting point, the impact can be very different:

➔ Sharp drops in organic traffic
➔ Unexpected growth
➔ Keyword changes, not session changes
➔ Loss of visibility in AI Overviews and Discover

In eCommerce, the most common effect was:

➔ Decline in poorly managed categories
➔ Stagnation of generic product sheets
➔ Better results for brands with real authority

Can we help you? Can we help you? Can we help you? Can we help you? Can we help you?
Rocket Digital

Why did this impact occur?

Here's the key: the Core Update of December 2025 reinforces signals that many eCommerce businesses had overlooked.

1. REAL APPLIED EEAT (NOT DECORATIVE)
Google readjusted the concept of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust .

It is no longer enough to:

  • An author with a nice bio
  • A “we have been experts since 2010”
  • Content is correct but generic

Now it matters:

  • Demonstrable experience
  • Real cases
  • Actual use of the product
  • Context, comparisons and criteria


2. USEFUL CONTENT > LONG CONTENT

The update made clear something we've been seeing at Shopify for some time:

It's not the one who writes the most who wins, but the one who solves the problems best.

Inflated categories, repeated text between products, or copied descriptions stopped working.


 3. UX AND TRUST AS REAL SEO FACTORS

Speed, clarity, checkout friction, architecture…

In 2025, easy buying means better positioning .


4. MARK ABOVE ISOLATED TACTICS

eCommerce with:

  • Recognizable brand
  • Brand searches
  • Coherent external signals

They withstood the update much better.

Why does this particularly affect Shopify and eCommerce?

Because Shopify makes it much easier to create a functional store , but it doesn't guarantee:

➔ Differentiation

➔ Authority

➔ Quality content

➔ Advanced SEO Architecture

We saw many cases of:

➔ Quick but poorly structured topics
➔ Apps that break UX and performance
➔ SEO “template” replicated in dozens of stores

The Core Update only served to expose those weaknesses .

What can we, as an SEO agency, do to prevent this from happening again?

This is where our work as SEOs comes in.

1. Business-oriented post-Core Update audit

We don't just look at traffic. We analyze:

  • Strategic categories
  • Keywords that convert
  • Real impact on sales

2. Rethinking commercial content

We work:

  • Useful categories (not filler)
  • Cards with real context
  • Content that responds to the intention

3. Reinforcement of actual EEAT

  • Signs of experience
  • Social proof
  • Brand authority
  • Consistency between web, feeds and structured data

4. SEO + UX + CRO (no silos)

Especially on Shopify:

  • Clear architecture
  • Logical linking
  • Less friction = more visibility

Is it possible to recover lost traffic?

Yes, but not with patches.

Google makes it clear: solid recoveries come after the next Core Update , not overnight.

Our approach:

➔ Correct the structure
➔ Build authority
➔ Prepare the site for the next update


Because SEO in eCommerce has entered a more mature phase.

Conclusion: Less hacks, more strategy

The December 2025 Core Update was no exception. It was a warning. Anyone who keeps looking for quick fixes will suffer with every update.

Those who build real value, brand, and experience will sleep soundly.

If you have an eCommerce store on Shopify and want to:

➔ Protect yourself from future Core Updates
➔ Regain visibility
➔ Build an SEO that sells



We are an SEO team specializing in Shopify and we work to make Google a stable channel, not a roller coaster.

Improve your strategy now ➔ Improve your strategy now ➔ Improve your strategy now ➔ Improve your strategy now ➔ Improve your strategy now ➔