Google Broad Core March 2025 update rolls out

On 13 March, Google confirmed the roll out of their broad core update – the first major algorithm update to affect the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) globally in 2025. 

A core update – which represents a comprehensive change to Google’s search algorithms and systems – is typically released in March, as was the case in 2024 and 2023. 

While there’s minimal detail from Google beyond the timing and the expected duration (two weeks), continuing to create high-quality, helpful content is key. 

What does the update mean for my recruitment site? 

Core updates usually produce noticeable changes to search rankings globally, so it’s normal to expect fluctuations in search visibility over the coming weeks. 

Once the core update has fully implemented, search rankings will tend to stabilise again. At this point, seeing more permanent shifts in positions is also normal, based on how the new algorithm evaluates content quality and relevance. 

If you’re wondering what to do, the main thing is to monitor your analytics during this time, specifically looking at organic search traffic – as well as rankings in Google Search Console. 

Make a note of any significant changes, ready to address after the core update has been fully implemented. 

Google Search Central said on X: 

“This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites. We also continue to work to surface more content from creators through a series of improvements throughout this year.” 

The account added that some improvements “have already happened”, whereas “additional ones will come later”.  

This supports that some ranking changes could have been experienced earlier in the month (in ‘smaller core updates’ prior to the announcement of the official March 2025 core update). 

We know Google rewards high-quality, helpful content that demonstrates EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) – and this core update appears to focus on this. 

What’s more, Google is expanding the roll-out of AI overviews to provide answers to users’ queries – which last November and December’s core updates affected too. 

How is Google Jobs changing in 2025? 

There was a major redesign of Google Jobs in early 2024, and there are still developments to the on-SERP feature today. 

Thanks to Schema mark-up, the salaries of jobs now display in Job listing results. The example of a Vennture client provided below displays the salary due to a baseSalary value appearing in JSON-LD schema on the job page. 

The job type and location display in the results, ideal for long-tail searches that might include additional terms like ‘full time’ or ‘london’ in the query. 

In the more detailed result, after clicking the job listing on Google, there’s also a new field which populates from the educationRequirements schema mark-up. This helps optimise for long tail searches involving educational qualifications in the query.  

It’s possible to see just how many direct applies your recruitment site has had via GA4. Google automatically appends UTM tracking to the job ad apply buttons, where utm_source=google_jobs_apply. 

After the last core update in December 2024, the way that job boards, ATS platforms and aggregators rank on Google Jobs changed.  

Job boards with ‘thin content’ have lost significant organic search traffic. What’s meant by ‘thin content’ is a site with only job ad pages, demonstrates no EEAT, and generally has no other content than jobs. 

Google is increasingly rewarding recruitment agency sites and employer brand careers sites, especially those that not only have schema on their job listings, but demonstrate EEAT and have fresh, high-quality, helpful content in the form of blog posts and landing pages. 

A brief history of Google for Jobs 

Google for Jobs officially launched in the United States in June 2017. Its purpose was to simplify job searches by consolidating listings from multiple job boards, as well as recruitment agency and career sites directly within Google search. 

Users could see a comprehensive list of job openings without navigating to separate job boards. 

Naturally, Google for Jobs expanded to other countries, including Google UK (in July 2018), Canada and India. It is widely available as a feature on Google in EU countries now too. 

Google for Jobs is essentially an on-SERP feature that takes prominent position within the search results, often referred to as ‘Position 0’, appearing after the paid ads – discontinued for Jobs in early 2024 – but before organic search results. 

Despite praise for enhancing the job search experience, Google Jobs has also faced some criticism from existing job boards and career sites: is Google’s dominance potentially stifling competition in the online job market? 

This is a debate for another time. Regardless, optimising for Google Jobs is a must as a recruiter, as the additional search visibility, clicks and ultimately conversions (in job applications and CV uploads) is indisputable. 

Recruitment sites on Vennture have jobPosting schema mark-up as standard, covering: type (full-time, contract, part-time etc); salary; location; whether remote work is available; amongst the essential job title, description, posting date, recruitment agency and more. 

What more does Vennture Job search offer? 

Vennture’s job search is not only Google Jobs-optimised with structured data, it’s highly intuitive. It enhances the job search experience for candidates with AI-powered search functionality. Searching for opportunities couldn’t be anymore seamless. 

The AI-integrated job search can interpret relevant keywords, industry terminology, spelling mistakes, and jargon. The outcome: candidates will always be presented with accurate results tailored to the jobs they’re looking for. 

There’s also a visual global map to explore where the latest opportunities are by location. This map view job search feature is made for candidates considering commuting, relocating or emigrating to land their dream job (available for medium website packages and above). 

With commute search, candidates can not only see where opportunities are, they can plan their route to work too. Whether they’re searching for roles based on distance or mode of transport, Vennture’s commute search provides real-time local public transport information, so candidates can see exactly how to get to their future place of work. 

Need support following the March 2025 update? 

We hope this insight on Google’s latest March 2025 core update and the subtle changes to Google Jobs will help to better inform your own strategies. 

While the update finalises rolling out, keep an eye on the search results. Always follow the data on your content from Google Search Console and GA4. Be sure to audit the content – whether blog post or landing page – checking changes to ranking, organic search clicks and conversions. 

Our team of SEO specialists will continue to monitor the update, and its impact on AIOs, Jobs, and the wider search results for our recruitment clients. 

If you think your website may have been affected by the latest Google update or would like to learn more about our content optimisation and strategies to help attract and convert more targeted organic search visitors, get in touch with one of our SEO specialists today.