The Google Medic update was a broad core update that started on August 1, 2018. It hit many health sites, so people now link the Google Medic update YMYL topics together. "Medic" is only an industry nickname; Google never used it.
What did the August 2018 core update change?
A core update is a broad change to Google's main ranking systems. It does not target one tactic, like link spam. Instead, it changes how Google judges quality and relevance across the whole web.
Google confirmed the update on August 1, 2018. Danny Sullivan of Google said "It's done" by August 8. Google gave no share of queries affected. It also said there was "no fix" for pages that dropped.
Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable gave it the "Medic" name. In his survey of more than 300 affected sites, "over 42%" were medical, health, fitness or healthy lifestyle sites.
How does the Google Medic update YMYL link work?
YMYL means "Your Money or Your Life". It covers topics that can affect a person's health, money, safety or happiness. Health advice, loans, legal help and news all count.
Google never said the update targeted YMYL sites. Site owners noticed the pattern on their own. Still, the link makes sense. A bad page about medicine can hurt someone more than a bad page about movies. So Google wants extra trust on these topics.
Who lost and who gained traffic?
Many sites saw changes, but some groups stood out:
- Health and wellness blogs with no clear author, no medical review and bold claims about cures.
- Supplement and diet shops that mixed sales pitches with health advice.
- Finance and legal sites with thin content and little proof of expertise.
Others gained. Sites from known health groups, hospitals and pages with expert authors often moved up. But Google also said: "There's nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well." A drop meant other pages looked more useful, not that your page broke a rule.
Is the Medic update still running today?
The August 2018 update was a one-off event. It finished in about a week. But Google keeps running broad core updates several times a year. The latest finished on June 2, 2026. Each one can shift YMYL rankings again, so the lessons from 2018 still apply.
How to check if it affected your site
- Open the Performance report. In Google Search Console, go to Performance and pick a date range from June to October 2018.
- Compare two periods. Use the Compare tab to set July 2018 against mid August to mid September 2018. Look at clicks and average position.
- Find the losing pages. Open the Pages tab and sort by the change in clicks. Note which topics dropped the most.
- Check Manual actions. Open the Manual actions report. A core update never gives a manual action, so any warning there has a different cause.
- Repeat for newer core updates. Do the same check around each recent core update date to see if the trend continues.
What to do now
Google said there is no quick fix. You improve the whole site and wait for the next core update. Focus on trust:
- Show who writes. Add a real author name, a short bio and the reason that person knows the topic.
- Cite good sources. Link to health bodies, studies or official pages for medical and money claims.
- Refresh old posts. Update facts, remove advice that no longer holds and add a "last updated" date. The old post refresh cheat gives a simple method.
- Cut or merge weak pages. Thin posts on serious topics can pull down how Google sees the whole site.
Google talks about this as E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust. It is not a score, but a way to think about quality. The later helpful content update pushed the same ideas.
In short, the Google Medic update YMYL lesson is simple: on topics that touch health or money, show proof that real experts stand behind your content.
Frequently asked questions
Was "Medic" an official Google name?
No. Google called it a "broad core algorithm update". Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable coined the nickname because so many health sites moved.
Did the Medic update only affect health sites?
No. It was a broad, global update that touched all kinds of sites. Health sites stood out in one survey, with over 42% of the affected sites in that group. Google never confirmed a focus on any topic.
How long does recovery take after a core update?
Google gives no fixed time. Often you need to wait for the next core update to see the results of your work. Some sites never return to old levels, because other pages simply became more useful.