In August 2018, a broad core algorithm update rolled out that caused some of the most significant ranking shifts seen in years. It was quickly nicknamed the Medic update by the SEO community, largely because health and medical websites appeared to be among the hardest hit. The name stuck, even though the update’s reach extended well beyond the health sector.
What a broad core update means
Before getting into the specifics, it’s worth understanding what Google means by a broad core update. Unlike targeted updates such as Panda or Penguin, which were designed to address specific problems like content quality or link manipulation, a broad core update is a general reassessment of how Google evaluates and ranks pages. The signals and weightings within the algorithm are adjusted, which can cause significant movement across rankings without any individual website necessarily having done anything wrong.
Google’s own guidance on broad core updates has always been consistent: if your site drops after one, the answer isn’t to look for what you did wrong. The question to ask is whether your content is genuinely as useful and authoritative as it should be.
Why health and medical sites were so affected
The reason the Medic update attracted so much attention in health-related sectors connects to a concept Google had been developing for some time within its search quality guidelines: E-A-T. This stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
For websites covering topics that could directly affect a person’s health, financial stability, safety, or wellbeing, Google applies heightened scrutiny. These are known internally as Your Money or Your Life topics, or YMYL for short. The reasoning is straightforward: poor information on a topic like medical symptoms, drug interactions, or financial advice can cause real harm. Google places a higher bar on the credibility of content in these areas.
Many health and wellness websites that had been performing well were found, under this more rigorous assessment, to lack sufficient signals of genuine expertise and trustworthiness. Content written without clear author credentials, sites with no clear indication of who was behind the information, and pages making claims without supporting evidence all suffered.
Why the impact spread beyond health
While health sites grabbed the headlines, the Medic update affected any sector where trust and authority were meaningful factors. Legal services, financial advice, and other professional service areas all saw movement. Even ecommerce sites, where trustworthiness in the context of purchasing decisions is relevant, were affected.
The broader message was that Google was getting more serious about the credibility of the sources it surfaced, across the board.
What this means for your business
The Medic update accelerated a conversation that is still very much ongoing in SEO: the importance of demonstrating genuine expertise and trustworthiness through your website and its content.
For business owners, this translates into several practical considerations. Making clear who is behind your business and what qualifies you to do what you do matters. Author credentials on content, clear about pages, professional accreditations, and consistent positive reviews all contribute to the trust signals Google is looking for.
If your business operates in any area where customers are making significant decisions: health, legal, financial, property, the bar is higher. Your website needs to reflect the expertise your business genuinely has, and it needs to do so in a way that is transparent and verifiable.
The Medic update was a signal that credibility was becoming as important as content. That remains true today.
