Volatility in Google Search Rankings

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There are emerging early indicators of another unconfirmed Google Search ranking fluctuation occurring today, February 10th. The SEO community is increasingly discussing these potential changes, and some third-party analytics tools are showing signs of volatility.

This activity appears to be separate from the recent February 2026 Google Discover core update that launched on February 5th.

Looking back, there have been several periods of notable fluctuations, including around February 2nd, late January (January 29th onwards), and multiple dates in mid to late January, such as the 21st, 15th, 12th, and 6th. Additionally, the December 2025 core update began on December 11th and concluded around December 29th, with spikes on December 13th and 20th. Google has not publicly commented on these unconfirmed updates, but prior evidence suggested that Google targeted self-promoting listicles during earlier fluctuations, and some believe it involved a review system, formerly known as the product reviews system.

Within the SEO world, conversations are heated. Discussions highlight how traffic from Google Discover has been inconsistent, fluctuating unpredictably. Some are experiencing a significant drop in traffic, with engagement dropping sharply and bot activity increasing, leading to feelings of frustration and uncertainty among site owners. Others describe the ongoing volatility as reminiscent of the “Google Dance,” a term used historically to describe the unpredictable shifts in rankings during algorithm updates.

Various SEO tracking tools reflect this turbulence. For instance, SEMrush’s sensor shows pronounced volatility, as do Sistrix, Accuranker, Wincher, Mangools, and Advanced Web Rankings, each displaying notable swings in rankings. A broader view aggregating these tools confirms heightened fluctuations, which are also captured by analytics platforms like Mozcast, SERPstat, DataForSEO, Algoroo, Zutrix, CognitiveSEO, and others. These tools collectively indicate that the search landscape remains highly unstable currently.

Discussions on web forums further elaborate on the ongoing uncertainty, with many SEO professionals expressing concerns about the unpredictability affecting their rankings and traffic.