Google wrapped up a spam update on October 8, and if your phone got a bit quieter last week, you've probably asked yourself whether the two are connected. They might be. For most honest local businesses, though, the answer is probably no. Here's what happened, how to check your own numbers, and what to do if something really did drop.
What happened
Google started the September 2026 spam update on September 24 at 9:15 a.m. Pacific and marked it complete on October 8 at 1:00 a.m. That's 13 days and 16 hours, according to the Google Search Status Dashboard. The update applied worldwide and to all languages. When it began, Google said the rollout could take up to two weeks, as Search Engine Land reported.
This is the fourth spam update of 2026. The earlier ones came in March, June and August, and each of those finished in a few days. Search Engine Journal covered that history, and PPC Land called this one the longest spam update in over a year.
The part that frustrates people: Google hasn't said which spam tactics it was going after. Search Engine Journal noted that when it published, neither Google's documentation nor the dashboard notes explained what the rollout addressed. Ignite Visibility's weekly news roundup reported ranking volatility during the rollout but also had no details on what was targeted.
What it means for your business
Google uses a spam update to improve its automated systems that catch sites breaking its spam policies. Those policies cover things like buying links, mass-producing thin pages to grab rankings, hiding keywords, building doorway pages for every town in the county, and renting space on your site to someone else's unrelated content.
Think about the plumber in Tigard with a real website, real photos of real jobs, a few service pages and a Google Business Profile full of genuine reviews. Updates like this aren't aimed at that site. Spam updates are aimed at sites that game the system. When a spammy competitor gets pushed down, an honest site can actually move up.
Still, any big update causes some shuffling, and sometimes innocent sites get bumped. So don't guess. Check.
How to check your traffic in Search Console
If you have Google Search Console set up (and you should; it's free), this takes about ten minutes:
- Open the Performance report. In Search Console, click Performance, then Search results.
- Compare two date ranges. Pick the Date filter, choose Compare, and set a period after October 8 against a period of the same length before September 24. Use matching days of the week so a slow Monday isn't compared to a busy Friday.
- Look at clicks and average position, not only impressions. Impressions move around for all kinds of reasons. A steady fall in clicks on the searches that bring you customers matters more.
- Check the Pages and Queries tabs. Did the whole site drop, or just one blog post? One page losing traffic is a content problem, not a penalty.
- Check for seasonality. If you have last year's data, compare October to October. A landscaper slowing down in fall is normal.
- Open the Manual actions report. It's under Security & Manual Actions. A spam update is automatic and won't show up there, but if a human reviewer at Google flagged your site, this is where you'll see it.
One more thing: a lot of calls for local businesses come through the map results, and Search Console doesn't show all of that. Look at your Google Business Profile performance stats too before you decide anything is wrong.
Shady SEO offers to avoid
Updates like this are when spam-pushing "SEO experts" go hunting. Expect cold emails promising to "recover your rankings." Ironically, many of them sell exactly what spam updates penalize. Walk away from anyone offering:
- Packages of backlinks for a flat fee. "500 high-authority links for $99" is buying links, which goes against Google's policies.
- Hundreds of AI-written pages overnight. Mass-produced pages made mainly to rank fall under what Google calls scaled content abuse.
- City pages with swapped names. Fifty near-identical "Best Roofer in [Town]" pages are doorway pages.
- Guaranteed #1 rankings. Nobody can guarantee this. Google says so itself.
- Paid or fake reviews. These can get your Business Profile in trouble and wreck customer trust.
- "Sponsored" content they want to host on your site. Renting out your domain for unrelated content is site reputation abuse.
What to do now
If your traffic looks normal
Leave it alone. Keep doing what works: keep your hours and services up to date, add photos of real work, answer common customer questions on your pages, and ask happy customers for reviews. Don't rush into changes because of a headline.
If you saw a real drop
Be honest with yourself. Has anyone ever bought links for your site, published piles of filler articles or added pages that only exist for search engines? If so, clean it up: remove the thin pages, stop any link schemes and focus on content that actually helps a customer decide. Google's spam updates documentation says recovery after fixing problems can take months, because its systems need time to see that the site has changed. Fixing things quickly helps, but rankings won't bounce back overnight.
If you've never done anything sketchy and your traffic still fell, give it a few weeks. Rankings often settle after an update ends. Check your site for technical problems too, such as broken pages or a slow mobile site.
The bottom line
Google's spam updates exist to catch people who cut corners. If your website honestly describes a real business that serves real customers, this update is much more likely to help you than hurt you.
If you'd rather have someone look at your Search Console numbers with you, or you want a website built the right way from the start, Gotta Web Design in Beaverton, Oregon can help. We build AI-powered websites and do honest local SEO for small businesses. Visit gottawebdesign.net or call (503) 381-2251.
Sources
- Google Search Status Dashboard: September 2026 spam update
- Ignite Visibility: Digital Marketing Industry News
- Search Engine Journal: Google Completes September 2026 Spam Update
- Search Engine Journal: Google Rolls Out September 2026 Spam Update
- Search Engine Land: Google releases September 2026 spam update
- PPC Land: Google's September spam update ends after 13 days
- Google Search Central: Spam policies
- Google Search Central: Spam updates