As you know, I reported yesterday morning, well before Google confirmed the Google search update that there was an update. The reason why Google even confirmed the update was because I emailed them asking them to confirm, they did on Twitter as you know. I didn’t want to name it yet but honestly it is a beautiful thing for Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld to name an update again.

It has been so long since the folks at WebmasterWorld named an update, it is nice to see them get back into it. Brett updated the WebmasterWorld thread and named it “Google Florida Update 2.”

I ran a poll on Twitter asking what we should name it, so far we have 350 responses. Most want to name it the Google 3/12 broad core update but I guess we should just go with the Google 3/12 broad core Florida 2 update so we can all be on the same page.

Google 3/12 Broad Core Florida 2 Update

Why name it Florida 2? The truth is, there is absolutely no relation to Florida 1, which was in November 2003 and this update. Google’s algorithms, index, search engine was a completely different beast then. Florida 1 was way bigger than this update. The reason Brett named it Florida 2 is because Florida 1 happened around a PubCon event he ran in Florida back then and now Florida 2 happened a week after PubCon Florida last week. That is the only reason – there are zero similarities outside of that.

Like I said, it was confirmed by Google:

It started on March 12th, as we suspected, but Danny Sullivan confirmed it:

It is a global worldwide update:

It can take a week or longer to fully roll out:

That is what we know so far. I will probably start collecting data around this update soon, but I want to give it a bit more time to fully roll out so you all can review your data and see the impact.

I don’t think it is bigger than the 8/1/18 Medic Update yet, I 100% do not think it is as big as the Florida update from 2003. But we need more time for this to roll out and settle.

So let’s go with the “Google 3/12 Broad Core Ranking Update Florida 2” for the name.

Forum discussion at Twitter and WebmasterWorld.

Update: Danny Sullivan at Google said go with naming it “Core.”

Update 2: Google has officially decided to name this update the March 2019 Core Update.

Here are all our current stories as of March 27th on the Google core update from March:

Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On March 12 (Florida 2), March 13, 2019
When Naming The Google 3/12 Broad Core Ranking Update Florida 2, March 14, 2019
Google Names The 3/12 Update The “March 2019 Core Update”, March 15, 2019
Speculation Around The Google March 2019 Core Update, March 15, 2019
Survey: Tell Us How You Were Impacted By The Google March 2019 Core Update, March 15, 2019
Google March 2019 Core Update Had Many Reversals But It Was Not A Reversal, March 18, 2019
Google March 2019 Core Update Myth Busting From Google, March 19, 2019
Google Search Algorithm Update Fluctuations From March 20th to 22nd, March 25, 2019
Revealing The Google March 2019 Core Update Survey Results, March 26, 2019