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# Google says recovering from a core update can take up to a year
- URL: https://www.promptthemarket.com/google-maps-crawl-to-recovery-times-site-moves-up-to-a-year/
- Published: 2026-10-05T22:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-06T01:40:09.000Z
- Description: Gary Illyes's typical-and-slowest ranges, recapped from Barcelona, give Australian agencies numbers to quote clients: about 20 hours for Google to find a new page, and a Christmas trading season lost to a slow migration.
- Author: Editor News
- Tags: Technology, Australia, Google, #author-xaviery-malinao

By **Xaviery Malinao** · 2026-10-05

TLDR

Google's Gary Illyes put typical and slowest timing ranges for Search processes on the wall at a Barcelona conference on 2 October, showing core update recovery typically runs 3 to 6 months and site migrations can drag for a year or more. Australian retailers still waiting on September spam update recovery face a Christmas trading window that Illyes's own numbers suggest they may not clear.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01Core update recovery takes 3 to 6 months typically and up to a year in the slowest cases, per Illyes.

02A site migration can take 6 months to a year or more to settle when conditions are unfavourable.

03New URL discovery completes in roughly 20 hours typically, but some URLs are never found at all.

04End-to-end indexing finishes in about 1.5 hours for quality pages; low-quality pages may never be indexed.

05Google has not released the Barcelona slides; figures come from ROAST and Search Engine Journal recaps.

## The timing table Illyes put on the wall

At Google's Search Central Live conference in Barcelona on 2 October 2026, Google Search Relations analyst Gary Illyes presented typical and slowest timing ranges for the main stages of the Search pipeline.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com) Google has not posted the presentation slides publicly, so the figures below come from session recaps published by ROAST's John Campbell and Search Engine Journal's Matt G. Southern.[\[2\]](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/07/search-central-live-deep-dive-europe-2026?ref=promptthemarket.com)

The table covers crawling, indexing and serving in one place. Discovery of new URLs typically takes about 20 hours, with slowest cases running from weeks to never discovered.[\[3\]](https://ppc.land/google-says-new-pages-take-about-20-hours-to-be-found-some-never-are/?ref=promptthemarket.com) Known URLs get a refresh roughly every 30 days. Sitemap processing completes in about 24 hours under normal load, stretching to 14 days or never in the slowest cases.

Indexing moves faster for pages Google considers worth keeping. End-to-end indexing completes in approximately 1.5 hours in typical cases, with slowest cases taking months or never completing for low-quality pages.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com) A canonical change takes one to three weeks, stretching to months when conflicting signals muddy the picture.

__Google Search timing ranges, as presented by Gary Illyes, Search Central Live Europe (Barcelona), Barcelona, 2 October 2026\. Source: [ROAST](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com)__
| Process               | Typical       | Slowest                    |
| --------------------- | ------------- | -------------------------- |
| New URL discovery     | \~20 hours    | Weeks to never             |
| Known URL refresh     | \~30 days     | Weeks to never             |
| Sitemap processing    | \~24 hours    | 14 days to never           |
| End-to-end indexing   | \~1.5 hours   | Months to never            |
| Site move             | 1 to 3 months | 6 months to 1 year or more |
| Core update recovery  | 3 to 6 months | 6 months to 1 year         |
| Spam update changes   | 1 to 2 weeks  | Months (batch refresh)     |
| Manual action removal | 1 to 2 weeks  | 4 to 6 weeks or longer     |

## Delays compound across stages

Illyes was direct about why the numbers matter in sequence. "Many of these processes are linked. E.g. a page can't be indexed until crawled," he said.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com) Illyes also separated rollout speed from recovery speed, a distinction agencies often miss. "Core updates take 2-4 weeks to roll out. Spam updates roll out in 1-2 days," he said.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com)

The stacking effect means a site that crawled slowly, returned ambiguous canonical signals, and then caught a penalty can accumulate delays at every stage before a single ranking outcome is visible. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the worst-case column in the table is a plausible chain for any site carrying quality or signal problems into a migration or an update window.

## Christmas, migrations and spam recovery

A site move typically takes 1-3 months to settle, with slower migrations requiring 6 months to a year or more to fully take effect.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com) At the absolute slowest end, Illyes's table implies a migration started 1 October 2026 might not settle until October 2027, past Christmas 2026 and most of the 2027 trading year.

The September 2026 spam update adds a second layer of pressure. Prompt the Market reported at the time that the rollout could run for two weeks.[\[4\]](https://www.promptthemarket.com/google-s-september-spam-update-could-run-for-two-weeks/) Illyes's table puts visible changes from a spam update at one to two weeks in typical cases, and shows that batch-refresh cases can stretch to months.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com) An Australian retailer who took a spam hit in September and is banking on recovery before the Christmas peak has no guarantee from Illyes's data that the timeline delivers.

The practical read for agencies: clients ask when they will recover, and the honest answer is a range. A core update recovery at the slow end does not resolve until the next core update, which Illyes's data puts at six months to a year out.[\[1\]](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com)

SOURCES & CITATIONS

1. [Google Search Central Live Barcelona, day 3 recap, ROAST](https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/?ref=promptthemarket.com)
2. [Search Central Live Europe (Barcelona) 2026, Google Developers](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/07/search-central-live-deep-dive-europe-2026?ref=promptthemarket.com)
3. [Google Says New Pages Take About 20 Hours to Be Found, Some Never Are, PPC Land](https://ppc.land/google-says-new-pages-take-about-20-hours-to-be-found-some-never-are/?ref=promptthemarket.com)
4. [Google's September Spam Update Could Run for Two Weeks, Prompt the Market](https://www.promptthemarket.com/google-s-september-spam-update-could-run-for-two-weeks/)
5. [Google Crawling, Indexing and Recovery Timing Ranges, Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-crawling-indexing-recovery-timing-ranges/591829/?ref=promptthemarket.com)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long does Google take to recover a site after a core update?

Gary Illyes said at Google's Search Central Live conference in Barcelona that core update recovery typically takes 3 to 6 months. In the slowest cases, full recovery spans 6 months to a year, effectively waiting until the next core update.

How long does a Google site migration take to settle?

Illyes's timing table shows a site move takes 1 to 3 months in typical cases. When conditions are unfavourable, including conflicting signals, low-quality pages or crawl delays, the settlement period stretches to 6 months, a year, or longer.

How quickly does Google find a new URL?

New URL discovery typically completes in about 20 hours. At the slowest end, some URLs are never discovered at all, which is why sitemap submission remains relevant for newly published pages.

Where can I find the original Google timing slide?

Google has not published the Barcelona presentation slides. The figures come from session recaps by ROAST's John Campbell and Search Engine Journal's Matt G. Southern, both published on or around 2 October 2026.

[Xaviery Malinao](https://www.promptthemarket.com/xaviery-malinao/)

Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.