Google opened 2020 with a same-day core update.
On the morning of 13th Jan, @searchliaison announced "Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the January 2020 Core Update". Rollout began around 12pm ET.
That was followed by "The January 2020 Core Update is now live and will be rolling out to our various data centers over the coming days." It was the first core update since September 2019.
Three days later Google said the update was mostly done rolling out. It noted core updates can take up to two weeks to fully complete.
No formal completion date was ever announced.
Tracking tools including Mozcast, RankRanger and Semrush showed substantial ranking swings during the rollout. Search Engine Land's 2020 year in review summed it up as an update that "was big and impacted a lot of sites".
As with every broad core update, there was no penalty to lift and nothing specific to fix.
If your site moved in mid-January 2020, assess the affected pages against Google's core updates help pages. Use its self-assessment guidance as well.
See our recovery guide for how recovery typically plays out.
