December 20, 2024
Only 24 hours after announcing that the December 2024 core update was complete, Google has released the December 2024 spam update…
Via the Google Search Status Dashboard, the company said that this update will apply “globally and to all languages. The rollout may take up to 1 week to complete.”
The news came as a big shock to those in the SEO community, who had joked about whether the company would release another core update so close to the festive period.
It also comes at a time when many industry experts are discussing the effectiveness of the company’s ability to fight spam, following a year of aggressive spam-fighting measures.
The December 2024 spam update is the latest way that Google is looking to fight unhelpful content, spam content and spam links. However, it currently remains unclear which type of spam this update is targeting.
Generally speaking, Google’s spam updates penalise websites that violate the company’s spam policies. Although the company’s spam detection systems operate constantly, the company does regularly make improvements to the systems.
In 2024, the company launched a number of spam-fighting measures, including the June Spam Update and the March Core Update, which targeted policy-violating websites and aimed to reduce “unhelpful” content by 40%. In fact, this is the seventh Google search algorithm update we’ve seen in 2024, including four core updates and three spam updates.
Over the course of the past few years, Google has regularly released spam updates:
Any site that is found to be in violation of Google’s policies following an update may either rank lower in the search engine results pages or may not appear at all.
Many website owners will be concerned about the December 2024 spam update, particularly as it’s being rolled out so close to Christmas. However, it’s important to remember that spam updates only target websites that violate Google’s spam policies. As a result, if you’re following SEO best practices and publishing high-value content, you should be unaffected.
That said, if you do see a noticeable change in traffic or rankings after the conclusion of the December 2024 spam update, you should review Google’s spam policies and ensure that you’re compliant.
If you need help navigating the current ranking fluctuations or need advice about how to stay compliant with Google’s spam policies, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our SEO and content experts. We’d love to help you.
