Google Does Not Start Search Algorithm Rollouts Right Before The Weekend

Google’s Danny Sullivan and John Mueller both said that the search company does not generally launch or begin the rollout of a search algorithm update right before the weekend. Danny Sullivan said on Twitter “it’s fairly unusual in my experience that rollouts happen outside of working hours.”

Danny did add “of course, we’re a global company with lots of Search teams around the world.” “But a general “push the update, turn off the lights, see you all on Monday” thing — not typical that I’ve seen,” he said.

Keep in mind, Google might start an update maybe on Thursday and that update then needs to roll out over days or weeks – and that process can be ‘felt’ by a drop in rankings that might be noticed not until a weekend – depending on when those URLs are processed.

John Mueller added on Twitter “there’s a lot more nuance than flipping a switch for a launch, but also, most Googlers work at home nowadays, and most don’t like to work on weekends if something unexpected happens.” “Certainly nobody here wants to launch & run,” John Mueller added.

Here is the original question:

.@searchliaison .@johnmu Guys? You got anything to say?

People think Googlers flip the switch at 5PM on Friday and go home. Does that really happen? https://t.co/EJEk6BETs6

— SEO-Theory.Com (@seo_theory) January 18, 2022

Here are the responses:

It’s fairly unusual in my experience that rollouts happen outside of working hours. Of course, we’re a global company with lots of Search teams around the world. But a general “push the update, turn off the lights, see you all on Monday” thing — not typical that I’ve seen.

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 18, 2022

There’s a lot more nuance than flipping a switch for a launch, but also, most Googlers work at home nowadays, and most don’t like to work on weekends if something unexpected happens. Certainly nobody here wants to launch & run.

— 🐄 John 🐄 (@JohnMu) January 18, 2022

Forum discussion at Twitter.