Google announced that URLs in Featured Snippets would no longer be appearing as traditional organic results, in line with Google's philosophy that a Featured Snippet is a promoted organic result. This had significant implications for rank-tracking and organic CTR.

• Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero (Moz)
• Google’s Featured Snippet-Apocalypse, FAQ Schema, No Snippet & Max Snippets Tags

Google rolled another core update, with MozCast showing heavy flux across three days and a high temperature of 97°F, in line with the previous three core updates (but smaller than the August 2018 "Medic" core update).

• Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled? (Moz)
• Google January 2020 core update almost done rolling out (SEL)

Google confirmed that the BERT natural language processing algorithm was rolling out internationally, in 70 languages. This announcement came after speculation from the SEO community, and the exact timing of the roll-out is unclear.

• BERT is rolling out to Google search in over 70 languages (SEL)

Google upgraded their algorithm and underlying hardware to support the BERT natural language processing (NLP) model. BERT helps Google better interpret natural language searches and understand context.

• Understanding searches better than ever before (Google)
• What Is BERT? - Whiteboard Friday (Moz)

SERP trackers registered multiple days of ranking flux, with MozCast showing early signs on October 2 and peaking at 98°F on October 4. Google did not confirm an update, and no details were forthcoming.

• Possible Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On October 3rd (SER)

Google rolled out another core update. The update measured at 97°F on MozCast (fairly high, but not historically high) and seemed to impact sites affected by previous core updates. Google did not provide many details.

• Google September 2019 core update to roll-out later today (SEL)
• The September 2019 Google Core Update – Case studies ... (GSQi)

Ranking trackers and webmaster chatter registered a week of heavy flux (MozCast peaked at 95°F on July 16) that was later dubbed the "Maverick" update by the search community. Google did not confirm an update, and details were limited.

• Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Again: Update Maverick (SER)
• Unconfirmed "Maverick" Google Algorithm Update: July 2019 (Performics)

Google pre-announced a "site diversity" update, claiming it would improve situations where sites had more than two organic listings. Moz data showed that, while the update did marginally improve SERPs with 3-5 duplicate sites on page one, the impact was relatively small.

• Did Google's Site Diversity Update Live Up to its Promise? (Moz)
• Google search update aims to show more diverse results from different domain names (SEL)

Google pre-announced a "core" update, but with limited details. Sites impacted in previous core updates seem to have been affected, in some cases, and some major UK publishers reported heavy losses. On average, the impact was smaller than the August "Medic" update, as measured by MozCast.

• Early data around the Google June 2019 core update shows some winners, losers (SEL)
• The June 3, 2019 Core Quality Update was a big one (Marie Haynes)