Is your Phetchaburi clinic seeing fewer new patients, or your Silom law firm receiving fewer online inquiries? If your Bangkok business relies on Google, the massive December 2025 Core Update might be silently costing you customers. This guide breaks down what happened, why your online visibility may have shifted, and how to reclaim your rightful place in search results.
What Just Happened?
The end of the year in Bangkok is usually a time for celebration and high season traffic, but this December brought a different kind of surprise from Google. Starting on December 11, 2025, Google began rolling out a major change to its search engine, which they are calling the “December 2025 Core Update.” According to industry reports, this is one of the most significant shake-ups we’ve seen all year, possibly since March 2024.
Google’s official goal with these updates is always to improve the quality of its search results. This time, they are laser-focused on rewarding websites and business listings that show genuine authenticity, deep expertise, and provide real value to the user. In short, they want to show searchers the most helpful and trustworthy businesses, not the ones who are best at gaming the system.
Context: What Does This Actually Mean?
So, what is a “Core Update”? Think of it like a major tune-up of Google’s entire search engine. It’s not a penalty aimed at anyone specific. Instead, it’s Google re-evaluating all websites against its new, higher standards. Some businesses will see their rankings go up, and others will see them go down, simply because the rules for what Google considers a “high-quality” result have changed.
This particular update is heavily targeting websites with thin, low-value, or mass-produced AI-generated content. It’s also looking closely at what Google calls E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. For a local business like your dental clinic in Asoke or your boutique hotel in Phrom Phong, this means Google wants to see clear proof that you are a real, trusted expert in your field. Are your services described clearly? Do you have genuine reviews? Is your website helpful and easy to use?
The Impact: What Are We Seeing on the Ground?
The impact of this update has been immediate and intense. Across the web, we’re seeing very high volatility in search rankings, the highest for all of 2025, in fact. Many businesses have reported significant drops in how easily customers can find them on Google. Some have seen their web traffic decline by double-digit percentages overnight, which is a serious concern for any owner paying rent in a prime location.
It’s not just the standard search results, either. We’ve seen major swings in traffic from Google Discover, the news feed on many Android phones. For businesses that rely on articles or blog posts to attract customers, this has been particularly disruptive. The key takeaway is that the ground has shifted, and if you’ve noticed a sudden drop in phone calls or online bookings, this update is very likely the reason.
The Action Plan: Should You Panic?
My direct advice is: do not panic. The worst thing you can do during a core update is make drastic, knee-jerk changes to your website or your Google Maps listing. These updates can take a couple of weeks to fully settle, and what you see today might be different tomorrow. Rushing to change everything without a clear diagnosis can often do more harm than good.
Your first step is to monitor, not react. You need to know if a drop in your ranking is a temporary blip or a sustained trend. This is precisely why we track our clients’ rankings every single day. Having that clear data tells you whether you’re facing a real problem or just a bit of temporary turbulence. A tool like OnEveryMap automates this, giving you a clear picture of where you stand. If you’re doing it manually, you’ll need to check your Google Business Profile insights every few days and compare the data to previous weeks to spot a pattern. Once the dust settles, you can build a sensible plan based on solid information, not fear.
