{"id":1164,"date":"2026-01-09T18:19:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2026-01-09T18:19:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:19:47","slug":"december-core-update-more-brands-win-best-of-queries-via-sejournal-mattgsouthern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=1164","title":{"rendered":"December Core Update: More Brands Win \u201cBest Of\u201d Queries via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p> <div id=\"narrow-cont\"> <p>Google\u2019s December core update ran from December 11 to December 29. Early analysis shared after the rollout points to a familiar pattern. Sites with narrower, category-specific strength appear to be gaining ground against broader, generalist pages in several verticals.<\/p> <p>Aleyda Sol\u00eds, International SEO Consultant and Founder at Orainti, published an analysis on LinkedIn breaking down the update\u2019s impact across publications, ecommerce, and SaaS categories.<\/p> <p><iframe width=\"504\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/embed\/feed\/update\/urn:li:share:7413529900105629696?collapsed=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" title=\"December Core Update: More Brands Win \u201cBest Of\u201d Queries\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p> <h2>What Changed<\/h2> <p>Based on the examples Sol\u00eds shared, the update appears to reward pages that match the query with direct category expertise. The effect shows up most clearly on \u201cbest of\u201d and mid-funnel product terms.<\/p> <h3>Publications<\/h3> <p>Publication sites lost rankings for \u201cbest of\u201d and broader queries that Google had previously treated as informational. Brands and commercial sites with direct product authority now rank better for these terms.<\/p> <p>Sol\u00eds cited Games Radar guides dropping for queries like \u201cBest Steam Deck Games,\u201d \u201cBest Coop Games,\u201d and \u201cUpcoming Video Games.\u201d Nintendo and Epic Games catalog pages increased for the same queries.<\/p> <h3>Ecommerce<\/h3> <p>Broader retailers lost ground on mid-funnel product queries to specialized retailers and brands showing specific authority in product categories.<\/p> <p>Macy\u2019s decreased for \u201cwinter boots women,\u201d \u201cwinter coats,\u201d and \u201cmen\u2019s cologne.\u201d Columbia, The North Face, and Fragrance Market increased for those same terms.<\/p> <h3>SaaS<\/h3> <p>Non-specialized SaaS platforms and publications dropped for software-related queries. More specialized software sites gained with targeted landing pages and resource content.<\/p> <p>Zapier, Adobe, and CNBC decreased for queries like \u201cAccounting Software for Small business\u201d and \u201csole trader accounting software.\u201d Freshbooks and Xero increased with dedicated landing pages.<\/p> <p>Sol\u00eds called the update \u201cyet another iteration to reward specialization, expertise and showcase more commercially oriented content from brands or specialized retailers, rather than generic ecommerce platforms or publications.\u201d<\/p> <h2>News Publishers Hit Hard<\/h2> <p>News publishers saw heavy volatility during the update.<\/p> <p>Will Flannigan, Senior SEO Editor for The Wall Street Journal, shared SISTRIX data showing India-based news publishers lost visibility on U.S. search results. Hindustan Times, India Times, and Indian Express all showed downward trajectories.<\/p> <p><iframe width=\"504\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/embed\/feed\/update\/urn:li:share:7411823773986963457?collapsed=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" title=\"December Core Update: More Brands Win \u201cBest Of\u201d Queries\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p> <p>Glenn Gabe, President of G-Squared Interactive, tracked movement across news sites throughout the rollout. He noted impacts across Discover, Google News, and Top Stories.<\/p> <p>\u201cThere was a ton of volatility with news publishers with the December broad core update,\u201d Gabe wrote on LinkedIn. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just India-based publishers\u2026 it\u2019s news publishers across many countries (including a number of large publishers here in the US dropping or surging heavily).\u201d<\/p> <p>During the rollout, some publishers reported steep Discover declines. Glenn Gabe wrote that publishers he spoke with \u201clost a ton of Discover visibility\/traffic.\u201d<\/p> <p>For news specifically, this is worth tracking alongside Google\u2019s Topic Authority system. That system surfaces expert sources for certain \u201cnewsy\u201d queries in specialized topic areas.<\/p> <p>We covered Topic Authority when it launched. The December volatility suggests Google continues to lean into depth signals for news, even if the mechanics differ by surface and query type.<\/p> <h2>Why This Matters<\/h2> <p>This update adds to a trend generalist sites have felt for years. Holding broad, non-specialized rankings gets harder when brands and specialist sites publish pages that map cleanly to the product category.<\/p> <p>In NewzDash data shared by John Shehata, Google Web Search\u2019s share of traffic from Google surfaces to news publishers fell from about 51% to about 27% over two years, while Discover\u2019s share increased.<\/p> <p>That doesn\u2019t explain why Google made changes, but it helps explain why Discover volatility hits harder when a core update rolls through.<\/p> <p>Additionally, the pattern suggests Google may be reclassifying \u201cbest of\u201d queries as having commercial rather than informational intent.<\/p> <p>In ecommerce, specialized retailers are outranking larger platforms in mid-funnel queries because they demonstrate category authority. For publishers creating product recommendation content, you now face direct competition from the brands themselves.<\/p> <p>For news publishers, the volatility in Discover creates a planning problem. When updates hit this channel, the traffic loss can be swift for publishers who lack a specific niche focus.<\/p> <h2>Looking Ahead<\/h2> <p>The December core update completed on December 29 after an 18-day rollout.<\/p> <p>Sites affected by the update can review Google\u2019s guidance on core updates. For sites hit by the specialization tilt, the path forward likely involves showing deeper expertise in narrower topic areas rather than competing on breadth.<\/p> <hr\/> <p><em>Featured Image: PJ McDonnell\/Shutterstock<\/em><\/p> <\/div> <p>News,SEO#December #Core #Update #Brands #Win #Queries #sejournal #MattGSouthern1767953987<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google\u2019s December core update ran from December 11 to December 29. Early analysis shared after the rollout points to a familiar pattern. Sites with narrower, category-specific strength appear to be gaining ground against broader, generalist pages in several verticals. Aleyda Sol\u00eds, International SEO Consultant and Founder at Orainti, published an analysis on LinkedIn breaking down [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[103,91,98,90,774,80,92,773],"class_list":["post-1164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessibility","tag-brands","tag-core","tag-december","tag-mattgsouthern","tag-queries","tag-sejournal","tag-update","tag-win"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}