Google started rolling out its September 2026 spam update on 24 September. It is expected to take about two weeks, so rankings may keep moving into early October.
This is the third spam update of 2026. It follows the June update and an August update that caused heavy ranking swings in the space of a few days. As usual, Google hasn’t said exactly what this one targets. It points site owners to its spam policies instead.
If your traffic dropped in the last week, don’t panic and don’t start rewriting everything. Here’s how I’d approach it.
What spam updates go after
Spam updates improve Google’s automated systems for finding content that breaks its spam policies. The policies most likely to matter for a normal business site are:
- Scaled content abuse. Publishing lots of pages mainly to rank, with little value for the reader. This applies whether the pages are written by AI, by people or both.
- Scraped or lightly rewritten content. Pages copied from other sites, sometimes with words swapped around.
- Keyword stuffing. Cramming keywords or lists of locations into pages in an unnatural way.
- Link spam. Buying links, large-scale link swaps or links from low-quality guest posts.
- Site reputation abuse. Third-party content published on a trusted site mainly to borrow its rankings.
- Cloaking and sneaky redirects. Showing Google something different from what visitors see.
One point people often get wrong: Google does not ban AI content. It penalises low-value content made at scale, however it was made. A helpful article drafted with AI and edited by an expert is fine. A thousand thin “best plumber in [city]” pages are not.
How to tell if the update hit you
Open Google Search Console and compare clicks and impressions from 24 September onward against the previous period. Then check three things:
- Is the drop site-wide or on certain pages? A drop on one group of pages, such as location pages or a blog category, tells you where to look.
- Did it start inside the rollout window? Drops that began before 24 September are more likely linked to the August update, a technical issue or seasonality.
- Is there a manual action? Check Security & Manual Actions in Search Console. A manual action is a human review, not the algorithm, and it tells you exactly what to fix.
Wait until the rollout is finished before you judge the final impact. Rankings often bounce during the two weeks.
My 8-step spam audit checklist
- List your thin pages. Export pages with very low clicks over 12 months. Pages nobody visits and nobody links to are candidates to improve, merge or remove.
- Check for near-duplicates. Location or service pages that only swap the city name are a classic scaled-content pattern. Either make each one useful with real local details or merge them.
- Review AI-assisted content. Every page should have a clear purpose, real expertise and facts you’ve checked. Add your own experience, examples and data.
- Read your pages out loud. If a keyword appears so often it sounds odd, rewrite it.
- Audit your backlinks. Look for paid links, link networks and spammy anchor text. Remove what you control. Disavow only in clear cases of manipulative links you can’t remove.
- Check third-party content on your site. Sponsored posts, coupon sections or partner pages that have nothing to do with your business are a site reputation abuse risk.
- Compare what users and Googlebot see. Use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to confirm Google sees the same page as visitors.
- Look for hacked content. Spam pages injected into a hacked WordPress site can drag down the whole domain. Check for unfamiliar URLs in your sitemap and the Pages report.
What recovery looks like
There is no quick fix. When Google’s systems re-evaluate your site after you’ve fixed the problems, rankings can return, but that often takes months. Google’s own guidance is that improvements may show over several months as its systems learn the site has changed. Links that Google’s systems have already ignored won’t come back, so focus on content and site quality.
The pattern across 2026 is clear. Google ran core updates in March and May and spam updates in June, August and September. Sites that publish fewer, better pages and earn links naturally ride these out. Sites built on volume have a rough year.
Not sure what’s behind your traffic drop?
I can look at your Search Console data and tell you whether this update is the likely cause and what to fix first.
Sources
- Google algorithm updates: full history (Search Engine Land)
- Google September 2026 spam update (Elsner)
- September 2026 Google webmaster report (Search Engine Roundtable)
- Spam policies for Google web search (Google Search Central)
Written by Sandesh Karkare, growth marketing consultant in Mumbai with 20 years in digital marketing.