In December 2025 Google rolled out one of their classic Merry Christmas core algorithm updates.

These things generally take several weeks to roll out and several more to analyze.

Glenn Gabe, an SEO I respect a lot, has just dropped a massive 5,000 word analysis.

But if you're a busy founder I’m gonna round up the need-to-know points so you can make sure your brand is staying ahead of where the flood waters from these algo updates are rushing toward.

1 - The User Experience Matters More Than Ever

Navboost, the system in Google's algorithm that focuses on user interaction with a site, played a big role in the late 2025 algo update.

Glen shared two examples of sites with aggressive ads and pop up, un-closeable video ads:

Do This:

Do what you gotta do to increase sales and CTR, but make sure the people landing on your site--especially coming from the SERPs get what they're looking for, and don't bounce back right away.

2 - AI Overviews and Organic Loss Hand-in-Hand

Recently, when Google releases a big algo update, we worry about displacement, where a new AI Overview pushes you lower on the search engine results page. But this update was different.

Glenn’s data shows a massive correlation between losing organic rankings and vanishing from AI Overviews. If Google’s algo flagged your site as lower quality, you probably got kicked from the AI answers and dropped in the organic blue links.

It makes sense, really...

The Signal:

If your traffic was affected by this 2025 core update, you may need to look at your visibility in Google's AIO and not just the organic results. It's a new era of loss.

3 - Creating a List of "Best X" Posts and Listing Yourself Is Still Goated

A new tactic that's working well in Google's AI Overview (AIO) and LLM answers (like ChatGPT) is creating a "Best X" list and putting yourself as #1. It's worked for a while, and looks like this update did nothing to address it.

If you're selling a product or service that can be objectively quantified as the best, you might consider have a page like this as well.

Here are a few examples:

Guess what the #1 ranked company is on either list?

You don't really have to guess...

It works pretty well in Google organic as you can see, and is a solid tactic for ranking in LLMs as well.

The Tactic:

Glenn speculates that there could be a manual action coming in the future around this tactic, but that's just FUD. For now; it's working. You can always take it down in the future if it becomes a negative signal if you pick a few keywords to target and it doesn't become your entire content strategy.

4 - Finance and Health Niches Saw Big Volatility

If you're in one of these niches you know this is the way it goes.

Some sites lose favor, other sites rush to fill the void.

The data shows this update hit the Finance sector first and hardest. Volatility in this niche spiked days before the broad rollout.

The Signal:

If you're in finance, you're a tester pancake. Not much to do with that info, but good to be aware. You might also pay attention to some sites in the finance space (both if you are and are not in the niche) to see what's working and what's getting punished.

5 - Specialized Rankings Up, Generic Rankings Down

This comes from a tweet by Aleyda, but it is good and relevant so I'm including it:

Several examples of ecom sites and SaaS brands seeing some big drops/gains.

Example:

Macy's losing rankings for generic terms like "winter boots women," and "winter coats," while brands like Columbia and The North Face gained ground in the SERPs.

Similarly, Zapier, Adobe, and CNBC losing rankings on keywords like "sold trader accounting software" and "expense report forms," while brands like Freshbooks and Xero increased.

The Signal:

Big sites with big authority will always overreach and try to rank for as many things as possible. But as Google pushes out future updates expect to see these SERPs go to the less authoritative, but better fit/more specialized business (except for Reddit, which will just rank for everything forever).

Never Fall Behind Another Update

Need help navigating the wild and increasingly complicated search landscape?

I can help build you a bulletproof strategy that'll increase your brand's visibility in Google and LLMs.

• strategy
• link building
• creative SEO

We can chat live, just hit me on Telegram @ThisGuyRanks

Or send a quick note: