The September 2026 Spam Update is Complete by Another Concept

Key Takeaways:

The fourth spam update of the year, the September 2026 spam update, is complete after a two-week rollout
This was a normal spam update that applied to all languages and locations
Sites were heavily impacted by this update, both positively and negatively
A huge core update is looming

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Today, Google announced that the September 2026 spam update has finished rolling out.

The rollout was complete as of October 8, 2026.
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) October 8, 2026

This was the fourth spam update of the year, following the March 2026 spam update, the June 2026 spam update and the August 2026 spam update, and took two weeks to complete, much longer than the previous few.

This was a normal spam update designed to improve Google’s search spam detection systems that target websites in violation of Google’s spam policies, and applied to all languages and locations.

Google releases spam updates periodically, although we’ve definitely seen an increase this year.

Here’s a timeline of spam updates released in the last few years:

August 2026 spam update: 18 - 24 August
June 2026 spam update: 24 - 26 June‍
March 2026 spam update: 24 - 25 March
‍August 2025 spam update: 26 August - 22 September ‍
December 2024 spam update: 19 - 26 December
June 2024 spam update: 20 - 27 June ‍
March 2024 spam update: 5 - 20 March‍
October 2023 spam update: 4 - 19 October
December 2022 link spam update: 14 December- 12 January
October 2022 spam update: 19 - 21 October

What Was the Effect of the September 2026 Spam Update?

Google said that this spam update was different from the previous three, and it’s clear this one has had a big impact on sites - positive and negative.

Volatility

As expected, the search results have been pretty volatile throughout its rollout, with some serious peaks and troughs at certain points within the update’s cycle.

This chart, courtesy of Search Engine Roundtable, shows us volatility over the course of the two weeks:

Graph of SERP volatility — Credit: Search Engine Roundtable

Site Impact

This update had a pretty big effect on sites all over the world, with many seeing huge dips. SEO and AI Search consultant, Glenn Gabe, documented this on X:

Google Morning Google Land! This is the 9/28 edition of "Spam Update Notes". I shared on Friday about the update starting to show itself, but this weekend it *really* showed itself. I'm seeing big drops across a number of sites. And that's across verticals and countries (which makes sense since spam updates are global updates). I have sites documented that dropped heavily in the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, and other countries. And vertical-wise, it's across many verticals... See some screenshots below of the impact. When digging into the drops, I'm not necessarily seeing anything new from a spam targeting standpoint (at least yet). I see a lot of "scaled content abuse", programmatic scaling, more thin affiliate situations, etc. So basically, what I saw with the August spam update. But again, this update could take two weeks to roll out, so Google might be targeting other things... just not yet. Stay tuned on that front. And like I said on Friday, I am seeing a ton of movement in early to mid-September. It sure looks like that was tied to spam IMO... but that wasn't part of the official spam update. I shared heavily about 9/4 drops, and some reversed course. But, I am seeing even more impact across sites and countries based on my research. I'll share more about that as the update continues.
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 28, 2026

However, quite a few sites, including those impacted by the August 2026 spam update, have finally seen some positive results.

"Spam Update Notes" for 10/1 continued: Next up I wanted to cover surges during spam updates. I have covered before how sites previously impacted by spam updates can recover during subsequent spam updates and I'm seeing a bunch of those now. I've had several sites owners reach out seeing big gains after being previously impacted by other spam updates. My guess is that Google is updating spam scoring and if the evaluation is positive for those sites previously impacted, then those scores are updated and the sites are surging. Again, I have a number of these documented with the September spam update. Sure, some sites could surge if competitors drop, but these surges look like scoring changes based on a major reevaluation. See an example below from GSC. The site was negatively impacted by the August spam update and is surging heavily with the September spam update. And check the Gen-AI reporting as the site surges into AIOs and AI Mode.
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) October 1, 2026

Author and consultant Marie Haynes also posted on X about a number of sites experiencing huge improvements from this update.

The September Spam update is still rolling out, but it's interesting to see that many of the sites I monitor are seeing big improvements. My guess is that Google has demoted or removed competitors' pages that ranked because of spam tactics. Will likely do more investigation once the update has finished.
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) September 30, 2026

Interestingly, there has also been a significant increase in manual actions. Glenn Gabe stated that a lot of site owners have been reaching about these, more so than usual:

Yep, I've noticed that as well. During spam updates a lot of site owners reach out about drops, but mixed in have been more about manual actions. E.g. "Pure spam", "Thin content", etc. This is not shocking considering the amount of 'Scaled content abuse' going on... I have covered that heavily over the past year or so (mainly due to scaling via AI-generated content). But programmatic is causing this too (or a mixture of the two).
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) October 8, 2026

As did Marie Haynes:

Have had a big increase in requests for help with manual actions lately. These include thin content, pure spam, and scaled content. Most of these sites are legitimate long standing businesses. Reminds me of 2011 - early 2012. Google went wild dishing out manual actions for unnatural links. What followed was the launch of Penguin in April of 2012 which was an algorithmic demotion. I think when Google gives out loads of manual actions it is for two reasons: 1. They are finding examples to use to train machine learning systems that will eventually be used algorithmically. 2. They learn from the reconsideration requests. Usually, in order to get a manual action lifted you need to fess up about what tactics you've been using. Anyhow, I still think that a big update is on its way. And I think it may be quite shocking for sites that have thrived more on SEO knowledge than truly being the most helpful and reliable.
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) October 6, 2026

Schwartz created a graph of manual action complaints over the last few months:

Is Google Search issuing more manual actions recently? -via @Marie_Haynes https://t.co/ntuKYNDir5
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) October 8, 2026

A Big Core Update is Looming

Many SEOs are predicting that a core update will drop soon, and it could be a big one.

The September 2026 spam update has completed rolling out. Nearly 14 days. Now the question becomes, what's next and when will that roll out? Again, based on the doc updates, and the heavy spamming going on to game AI Search, I think we'll see a very big update soon. Stay tuned.
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) October 8, 2026

Lily Ray also published an article on her prediction, which you can read here.

What to Do If You’re Hit

If you have been hit, there’s a good chance you have violated one or more of Google’s spam policies. We recommend revisiting Google’s documentation, focusing on the policies regarding content, as this was a normal spam update and not a link-specific one, and addressing anything that might be considered spam.

It can take time to recover from a spam update. You need to remove violating content and consistently avoid any spam tactics for several months to get back in Google’s good books. It’s also important to bear in mind that any drops or surges you've seen may be temporary. Wait a little while before evaluating the damage.

If you want expert help with algorithm update recovery, don't hesitate to get in touch with us today.