Google has begun the rollout of its latest September 2026 spam update, and it has plenty of time to complete the process. The company has warned that it may take up to two weeks for the update to finish, and that it affects sites worldwide and in all languages.
The status note on Google’s Search Status Dashboard indicates that the rollout started on September 24 at 9:15 a.m. PDT. The note itself is brief, reading only that the rollout could potentially take up to two weeks to go live. This is the fourth confirmed update of 2026, following updates in March, June, and August.
Google has not identified what the update targets. No spam policies or tactics have been named as a focus of this update, and therefore any assessment of its intent is speculative.
What Google Has Confirmed
The company has shared little information beyond the rollout date and duration. The update is live on all languages and regions, and is estimated to take up to two weeks to complete. Other than that, Google has not identified the spam policies or tactics it targets.
The clearest guidance comes from Google’s general spam update advice. If a website’s search performance is impacted, it should review Google’s spam policies to determine if any of the guidelines apply to the affected pages. Sites that violate Google’s policies risk lower rankings or being removed from search results entirely.
A Longer Window Than Usual
The previous three updates in 2026 had much shorter rollout windows than the two weeks Google is indicating for September. On March 21 at 18:30 PDT, the March update was completed 19 hours and 30 minutes later. The June update took 2 days and 1 hour to complete, and the August update took 2 days and 16 hours.
Each of these updates had a similar note to the September 24 message, indicating that they would take “a few days” to finish. Each update was completed in under the estimated time, with March finishing just shy of 24 hours later. The change in language could indicate that either the September update will be larger in scope, or that Google has grown more conservative in its estimates. Either interpretation is consistent with the information given.
Two weeks is also a maximum – the update could be completed earlier. Google’s past behavior suggests that the estimate should be treated as such.
How Spam Updates Differ From Core Updates
Spam and core updates are both significant events in the SEO calendar, but the two are not the same. A spam update is a significant improvement to Google’s spam-fighting systems. Core updates, on the other hand, are broad changes to Google’s systems for evaluating content.
These differences have important implications for site owners. After a core update, changes to a site’s traffic can be attributed to general improvements or declines in the content. After a spam update, however, changes to traffic can be connected to specific spam policies or tactics. That is why reviewing the spam policies is an important step after a spam update.
Spam Policies Worth Rechecking
With no specific policy named, the most logical course of action is to review the entire list. Google’s spam policies include the following categories of violation:
- Cloaking and sneaky redirects
- Doorway abuse
- Expired domain abuse
- Hidden text and links
- Keyword stuffing
- Link spam
- Scaled content abuse
- Scraped content
- Site reputation abuse
- Thin affiliate pages
- User generated spam
In addition to the policies listed above, Google’s spam guidelines also include guidelines against hacked content, malware and other malicious code, machine generated traffic, and several types of manipulative or deceptive functions. The list is long, and most webmasters will only be familiar with a few of these policies. That is okay – the purpose in reviewing the list is to identify any that apply specifically to the site in question.
If Your Traffic Moves
Fluctuations in rankings or traffic are expected during a large update.
The first step in determining whether a spam update caused a drop is to determine whether the drop even happened. Google has recommended looking at Search Console and seeing whether the drop coincided with the update. Drops that occur after September 20 are unlikely to be caused by this update, but drops on September 26 or later might be.
A few other recommendations can make it easier to identify drops that are caused by a spam update. First, make sure to look at the dates and compare statistics for the same time periods before and after the update. It can be helpful to sort the data by page type, too. If the drop appears across multiple page types, it may be possible to connect those changes to a shared policy. On the other hand, if the drop appears only in one section of the site – such as affiliate pages or programmatic content – it may have a more specific cause.
Changes to comments, forums, or other third party content can also be a cause of concern. Spam can appear on these sections without the site administrator’s knowledge, making these sections worth a closer look. Finally, avoid making any major changes while the update is still ongoing. The changes could affect analysis and ranking performance, so it is best to wait until Google finishes the update before making any significant changes to the site.
Recovering From a Drop in Rankings
If a drop in rankings does occur, Google’s guidance suggests that recovery may take longer than expected. Changes to the site may help it recover, but these changes will only take effect if Google’s spam-fighting systems continue to permit them. In practice, this means that it can take several months for a site to fully recover from a spam update. In most cases, the changes that caused the update to target the site in the first place will not be sufficient to cause it to rank higher again.
Recovering from a spam update is not a quick process. Sites that continue to follow Google’s guidelines after an update will gradually see improvements, but other sites may struggle to improve their rankings after making changes that only address the issues that caused the update in the first place.
Auditing the Site Before Google Audits It
Waiting for data to compile is not the only option for responding to a spam update. A content and link audit can help uncover issues that Google has detected, and it may reveal further issues that Google has not yet detected. The audit process begins with pages that were created with little or no intention of providing value. Near duplicate location pages, thin affiliate pages, and other similar types of pages should be consolidated or removed. Any page that would not benefit substantially from a phone call, email, or visit should be improved, replaced, or removed entirely.
After removing unnecessary pages, the next step is to look at other types of spam. Paid links, link exchanges, and other types of link buying or manipulation fall under this category. None of these types of link building are acceptable, even if the links themselves appear to be high quality. A similar review should be performed for other types of content, including guest posts and other types of contributed content.
No single audit can catch every type of spam or violation, but these steps are a good way to begin. If Google updates its guidelines again, the audit can be repeated to catch any new issues. Performing an audit before a spam update occurs can be useful, but it is not strictly necessary. Audits are still a good idea even if a site is not impacted by a particular update, since they help ensure that the site is following Google’s rules in all areas.
The Cadence of Spam Updates in 2026
2026 has seen four confirmed updates, with no apparent pattern to their timing. The first three occurred in March, June, and August, with roughly a month between each. The gap between the August and September updates, on the other hand, was considerably shorter. The last two updates came within days of each other, and less than two months had passed between the first and the last.
The impact of this change depends on what type of website in question is. Ecommerce sites, for example, may see changes in the near future. This update comes shortly before the peak holiday season, and sites that rely heavily on organic traffic may want to monitor their rankings more closely over the next two weeks. No information has been released suggesting that this update will target retailers specifically, but this timing does raise some questions. If another update is released in early October, it would be helpful to know what changes, if any, it may have caused.
Publishing companies and agencies should also be aware of this pattern. With updates coming so frequently, it can be challenging to separate the impact of different spam updates, particularly when there are other ranking changes at the same time. Keeping records of changes to the website, along with notes about any other updates, will make this process significantly easier.
What to Do Next
Google will continue to roll out the update until it is complete, and the Search Status Dashboard will indicate when that has happened. Search Engine Journal has indicated that it will provide an update once the rollout is complete. Until that point, any analysis of the changes should take that uncertainty into account. Rankings and other statistics should be compared before and after the update completes, and the changes in rankings should be re-evaluated as the rollout progresses. A drop on day three may not reflect the final outcome, and any analysis should reflect that fact.
FAQs
Q1: When did Google’s September 2026 spam update start?
It began on September 24, 2026 at 9:15 a.m. PDT, according to Google’s Search Status Dashboard. Google has indicated that the update will apply to all languages and regions.
Q2: How long will the rollout take?
It may take up to two weeks, according to Google. This is the maximum, and the update may finish earlier.
Q3: What does the update target?
Google has not stated that explicitly. It has not linked the update to any specific spam policies or tactics, and therefore its focus is unknown.
Q4: How many spam updates has Google released in 2026?
This is the fourth such update of the year. The first three occurred in March, June, and August, respectively.
Q5: How long did the previous updates take?
The March update took 19 hours and 30 minutes, the June update took 2 days and 1 hour, and the August update took 2 days and 16 hours to complete. Google used a similar note for each of these updates, indicating that each would take “a few days.”
Q6: How does a spam update differ from a core update?
A spam update improves Google’s spam-fighting measures, while a core update makes broader changes to Google’s ranking systems.
Q7: What should I do if my traffic is impacted by the update?
If a website’s performance is impacted by the update, it should consult Search Console and determine whether the changes occurred during the update. Google has also advised that sites should review the spam guidelines if they are impacted by a spam update.
Q8: Could a website be demoted by the update, or disappear from search results
Yes. Sites that are in violation of Google’s policies risk being penalized or removed from search results.
