Google Confirms: Core Search Ranking Update Took Place But Not Penguin Related

On Friday we covered many people starting to see ranking changes in Google and then again, over the weekend we said this was a massive update but I said it didn't seem likely it was Penguin.
Well, Google finally confirmed this morning that there was a core ranking change but unrelated to Penguin - as we expected.
It broke this morning with Zineb from Google posting in French:

Zineb Ait ‎@Missiz_Z

@RaphSEO @korleon38 @abondance_com @seof1 pas de nom. Il s'agit simplement d'une de fréquentes quality updates.

That means there was no name [for the update]. It is simply one of frequent quality updates.
Gary Illyes confirmed the translation and what happened:

Gary Illyes ‎@methode

@jenstar yes, the changes you saw are part of a core algo update. @Missiz_Z is right almost always, you shan't need my confirmation

3:01 PM - 12 Jan 2016 · Zurich, Switzerland, Schweiz

And John Mueller did also:

John Mueller ‎@JohnMu

@dawnieando It's not penguin; not "confirmed-ish" just "confirmed" :-).

Basically, all that mocking of our reports of a massive Google update, well - it was something big but Google won't say more than a "core update."
We had several core updates that Google has confirmed in the past, so this is one of the rare ones that Google has indeed confirmed.
Forum discussion at @Missiz_Z, @methode and @JohnMu.