Google’s cleaning house again

If your search traffic feels a little wobbly this week, you're not imagining things.

Google just launched its September 2026 spam update. It applies globally across all languages and will take around two weeks to fully roll out. This is actually their fourth confirmed spam update of 2026, aimed at clearing out low-quality sites that try to game search results.

Google hasn't named specific tactics they're targeting this time, which means ranking numbers are going to bounce around until the rollout finishes.

Our best advice? Don't panic and start tearing your website apart. Keep an eye on your Google Search Console over the next couple of weeks. If you do notice a dip once everything settles, take a calm look at Google's search spam policies before making any major structural tweaks to your site.

Have you noticed any strange traffic swings over the last couple of days?

Source: Search Engine Land, September 24, 2026.