{"id":338,"slug":"cwv-thresholds-2026-confirmed-unchanged","title":"2026 CWV thresholds (confirmed unchanged): LCP ≤ 2.5s, INP ≤ 200ms, CLS ≤ 0.1 at p75 field data","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","dev","candid-team"],"topics":["core-web-vitals"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Google's official \"Good\" Core Web Vitals thresholds remain unchanged through 2026:\n\n| Metric | Good (≤) | Needs Improvement | Poor (>) |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| **Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)** | 2.5s | 2.5–4.0s | 4.0s |\n| **Interaction to Next Paint (INP)** | 200ms | 200–500ms | 500ms |\n| **Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)** | 0.1 | 0.1–0.25 | 0.25 |\n\nAll measured at the **75th percentile of real-user field data** (CrUX, 28-day rolling).\n\n**Source:** <https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals> (last updated 2025-12-10 UTC); web.dev/articles/lcp; web.dev/articles/defining-core-web-vitals-thresholds.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified (primary Google documentation).\n\n**Important refutation:** Multiple SEO blogs claim Google tightened LCP to 2.0s and \"elevated INP to primary signal\" in the March 2026 core update. **This is not confirmed by Google and contradicts current documentation.** See [[march-2026-lcp-tightening-rumour-refuted]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"march-2026-lcp-tightening-rumour-refuted","title":"REFUTED: \"March 2026 LCP tightened to 2.0s / INP elevated\" — no such Google announcement exists","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"2026-performance-budget-smb-site","title":"Reference: 2026 performance budget — SMB marketing site (Candid default targets)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"research-brief-page-speed-moat","title":"Research brief: Page Speed as a Moat — why CWV separates the agencies from the freelancers (piece 9 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"economic-times-43pct-bounce-reduction-2021","title":"The Economic Times (2021): LCP 4.5s→2.5s, CLS 0.25→0.09 → -43% bounce site-wide","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T20:03:33.298Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T20:03:33.298Z"}