How Google Updates Affect Health and Medical Sites

Health and medical websites sit in the most scrutinised corner of Google Search. When someone searches for symptoms, treatment options or a clinic, a poor result can do real harm, so Google holds these pages to a higher standard than, say, a film review or a recipe.

That is why health sites so often appear in the discussion after core updates. The August 2018 core update was even nicknamed “Medic” by the SEO industry because so many health sites saw large swings. But the lessons since then are less about one update and more about how Google evaluates trust on “Your Money or Your Life” topics.

This guide covers the Medic update, the YMYL standard, Google’s reliable information systems, and the practical editorial practices – such as medical review – that help health sites stay steady through updates in 2026. It does not give medical advice, and it touches on patient privacy because health marketing in the US must respect HIPAA.

Key Takeaways

• “Medic” was an industry nickname for Google’s August 2018 broad core update, not a separate health algorithm.
• Google says its systems give even more weight to strong E-E-A-T on YMYL topics, and that trust is the most important aspect.
• Reliable information systems aim to surface authoritative pages and demote low-quality content, which matters most in health.
• Clear authorship, qualified medical review, cited sources and update dates help readers and align with Google’s guidance.
• US healthcare marketers must handle analytics and tracking carefully under HIPAA.

Health-relevant updates at a glance

Update	Date	Confirmed?	What was reported for health sites
August 2018 core update (“Medic”)	From 1 August 2018	Yes (as a broad core update)	Search Engine Roundtable collected 325 submissions from affected sites; nearly half were in the medical and health space
June 2019 core update	3 June 2019, about five days	Yes, pre-announced	Searchmetrics and Moz reported visibility gains for medical sites
September 2019 core update	From 24 September 2019	Yes	Sistrix and RankRanger saw effects in medical and travel niches
Helpful content updates	August 2022 – September 2023	Yes	Site-wide classifier for search-first content; folded into core ranking in March 2024
Recent core updates	2024 – 2026	Yes	Google publishes no niche-specific breakdowns; check your own data

Sources: Search Engine Land’s coverage of the August 2018 update and its 2019 algorithm update review; Google Search Status Dashboard. For a closer look at 2018, see our post on the Medic update.

What really happened with “Medic”

Google described the August 2018 change as a broad core algorithm update, the kind it releases several times a year. It did not announce a health-specific algorithm. The “Medic” label came from the industry because so many affected sites were in health and wellness. Sistrix also noted that most changes were on YMYL sites, though it added that ecommerce, educational and automotive sites were affected too.

Google’s advice at the time, repeated from its March 2018 core update guidance and quoted by Search Engine Land, was that there was:

“no 'fix' for pages that may perform less well, other than to remain focused on building great content”

— Google, as quoted by Search Engine Land, Google's Aug. 1 core algorithm update: Who did it impact, and how much?

That message still holds. Health sites that lost visibility were not penalised; Google’s systems judged other pages more helpful or trustworthy for those queries.

YMYL and E-E-A-T: the standard health pages are held to

Google’s guidance on creating helpful content explains that for topics that could significantly affect health, financial stability, safety or wellbeing, its systems give even more weight to strong E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness):

“We call these “Your Money or Your Life” topics, or YMYL for short.”

— Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content

The same page states: “Of these aspects, trust is most important.” E-E-A-T is not a single score; it describes what Google’s systems and its quality raters look for. Our guides to E-E-A-T and core updates and YMYL and algorithm updates go deeper, and our older primer on E-A-T in SEO covers the background.

Reliable information systems

Google’s ranking systems guide describes “reliable information systems”: multiple systems that work to show the most reliable information possible, including surfacing authoritative pages, demoting low-quality content and showing content advisories when reliable information is lacking. In health, that means a page can be well written and well optimised but still be outranked by sources Google’s systems consider more authoritative. Our explainer on reliable information systems covers what Google has published.

“Reviewed by” and other editorial practices that help

Google does not require any specific badge or markup, but several practices make your expertise visible to readers and align with the “Who, How and Why” questions in Google’s helpful content guidance:

Practice	What it looks like	Why it helps
Named authors	Author byline linking to a bio with credentials	Shows who created the content
Medical review	“Medically reviewed by” a qualified clinician, with date	Shows clinical oversight of the content
Cited sources	Links to guidelines, peer-reviewed research or health authorities	Lets readers verify claims
Update dates and change notes	“Last reviewed” dates and a short summary of changes	Shows the content is maintained
Editorial policy page	How topics are chosen, reviewed and corrected	Explains how content is produced
Clear ownership and contact details	About page, practice details, contact information	Supports trust

For practical set-up, see our guide to author pages for SEO. Note that FAQ rich results are no longer shown in Google Search, so do not rely on FAQ markup for extra visibility.

Patient privacy: HIPAA and tracking

In the US, HIPAA governs how covered entities (such as healthcare providers) and their business associates handle protected health information. The Department of Health and Human Services has published a bulletin on the use of online tracking technologies by covered entities. Part of that guidance – relating to tracking on unauthenticated public web pages – was vacated by a federal court in Texas on 20 June 2024, and HHS notes this on the page. Practical points for health marketers:

• Review which analytics, advertising pixels and chat tools run on patient portals, booking flows and condition pages.
• Check whether vendors will sign business associate agreements where required.
• Never use real patient stories or reviews in marketing without proper written authorisation.
• Take legal advice for your situation; this article is not legal advice.

A step-by-step plan for health sites after a core update

1. Wait for the rollout to finish and compare a full week afterwards with the week before it started.
2. Identify the affected pages and queries. Separate condition information, service pages and blog content.
3. Compare with the winners. Look at who now ranks: hospitals, government health bodies, specialist publishers?
4. Audit trust signals. Authorship, medical review, sources, dates and ownership on every YMYL page.
5. Improve or consolidate. Update outdated content; merge overlapping articles; remove pages you cannot properly maintain.
6. Focus on what you are qualified to cover. A dermatology clinic should own skin topics, not general nutrition.
7. Be patient. Google says some improvements can take months to be reflected, often around later core updates.

Our YMYL core update recovery guide expands on each step.

Common mistakes

• Making unsupported medical claims. Overpromising outcomes undermines trust and may break advertising and consumer protection rules.
• Adding a reviewer name without real review. A badge without a qualified, genuine review adds risk, not trust.
• Publishing far outside your expertise. Broad health topics compete with major authorities.
• Letting content go stale. Guidance changes; old pages can mislead.
• Installing tracking pixels everywhere. This can create HIPAA problems for covered entities.

Related Guides

• How Google Updates Affect News Publishers
• How Google Updates Affect SaaS Companies
• Forums and UGC After Google's 2023-2026 Updates

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Google Medic update?

It was the industry nickname for Google’s August 2018 broad core update, which caused large swings for many health and other YMYL sites. Google did not release a separate health algorithm.

Does Google require a medical reviewer on health content?

No specific badge is required. Showing who wrote and reviewed content, and why they are qualified, helps readers and aligns with Google’s guidance on E-E-A-T.

Why do health sites swing more in core updates?

Health is a YMYL topic, and Google says its systems give more weight to content with strong E-E-A-T on such topics, so assessments of trust can shift results noticeably.

Should health sites still use FAQ schema for rich results?

FAQ rich results are no longer shown in Google Search, so FAQ markup should not be relied on for extra visibility.

Does HIPAA affect SEO and analytics?

For US covered entities and their business associates, yes. Tracking technologies can involve protected health information, so review tools and vendor agreements with legal advice.

Conclusion

Health sites do best through updates when they behave like trustworthy healthcare organisations online: qualified authors, real review, careful sourcing and respect for patient privacy. That approach serves patients first and tends to hold up when Google refines its systems. For help reviewing your medical content and visibility, explore our health marketing services and SEO for doctors, or get a quote.

References

1. Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (Google Search Central)
2. A guide to Google Search ranking systems (Google Search Central)
3. Google's Aug. 1 core algorithm update: Who did it impact, and how much? (Search Engine Land)
4. The big list of 2019 Google search algorithm updates (Search Engine Land)
5. Use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA covered entities and business associates (HHS)
6. Google Search's core updates (Google Search Central)