August 19, 2026
On 18 August, Google announced the rollout of the August 2026 spam update, which is expected to take a few days to complete.
This is the third spam update of the year, following the June 2026 spam update and the March 2026 spam update, and the sixth algorithm update of the year.
Google said this is a normal spam update that will apply to all languages and locations, and is designed to improve Google’s search spam detection systems, which target websites violating Google’s spam policies.
Google releases spam updates periodically, although we’re definitely seeing an increase this year.
Here’s a timeline of spam updates released in the last few years:
Spam updates should only have an impact on websites that are engaging in any tactics used to manipulate the search engine into ranking content highly, such as cloaking, hidden text, scraping, and link spamming.
That being said, many sites experience temporary traffic and ranking changes during and post-rollout. Some also claim to be wrongly affected, however it’s likely that these sites are being manipulative without realising it.
Marie Haynes spotted some patterns regarding this, noting them on an X post:
There is a bit of debate on the subject though.
João Neves commented on Haynes’ post, sharing his belief that Google is penalising legitimate sites:
Behlül Göktepe, however, believes some sites are being targeted simply because what’s considered ‘spam’ is is changing:
Either way, people aren’t happy that yet another update has dropped.
Jeremy Kaplan commented on Google Search Central’s post on X announcing the update:
Alex also responded questioning their frequency:
There are no specific details regarding this spam update, so the best thing to do is carefully review all your content to ensure you’re not in violation of any of Google’s spam policies, and remove any content that is.
The SERPs will likely be volatile for a little while so there’s no need to panic if you do see a drop. Wait a week or so after the rollout is complete to evaluate any changes.
If you are worried about how this update might affect your site, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
