Google began a spam update on 24 September 2026 (25 September in Australia). It goes after sites that break Google's spam rules to rank higher. If your rankings fell after that date, the update could be the reason, but the timing alone doesn't prove it. Look at which pages dropped and when, before you change anything.
When did the update start, and is it finished?
The update started on 24 September US time and applies worldwide, in every language. Google said it would take up to two weeks to roll out. When we checked on 5 October, the official announcement hadn't been marked complete, so rankings may keep shifting for a few more days.
Sites Google decides are breaking its rules can move down the results or drop out of them. For a local business, that usually shows up as fewer calls and enquiries before anyone looks at a report.
Does a ranking drop mean you've been penalised?
No. A drop during the rollout is worth investigating, but it isn't proof.
Check when the decline actually started. If traffic was already sliding in early September, the update can't explain that first drop, because it hadn't begun. A technical fault can stop pages being indexed, a competitor can publish something better, or demand can simply fall away because people are searching for something else.
Lower traffic doesn't always mean lower rankings, either. You can hold the same positions and get fewer clicks in a quiet month. Google's guide to traffic drops walks through how to tell these apart.
What is Google targeting?
Google hasn't named the tactics this update goes after. Its spam policies are the best guide to what it treats as spam, and these are the issues we'd check first on a typical Australian small business site.
Large amounts of unhelpful content
Publishing lots of repetitive or copied pages mainly to pull in search traffic. Improve the pages that deserve to stay with accurate, original information. Merge or remove the ones that don't help anyone.
AI isn't the problem in itself. Google's issue is content mass-produced without adding anything, whoever or whatever wrote it.
Location pages that are nearly identical
A business creates dozens of suburb pages where only the suburb name changes, and every page funnels visitors to the same service. Keep the location pages that genuinely help someone in that area, and give each one real detail: jobs you've done there, travel times, local conditions, the person on your team who covers it.
Paid links
If you, or an SEO provider you used in the past, paid other sites for links to boost rankings, stop. Then have those links reviewed so they can be removed or labelled correctly.
Hacked or hidden content
Pages you didn't create, hidden links, or redirects sending visitors somewhere unexpected. Your developer needs to remove the content and close the security gap that let it in. If the gap stays open, the spam usually comes back.
Someone else's content using your site's reputation
Some sites host third party articles or sections mainly because the host domain helps them rank. If you have an arrangement like that, review it and remove anything that breaks Google's rules.
Treat this list as things to check, not a diagnosis. Finding one of them doesn't confirm the update affected you.
What has actually been reported?
Search Engine Roundtable reported possible waves of ranking movement around 25 to 27 September and again on 30 September. It also noted Reddit's translated pages gaining ground in several countries while other sites reported losses.
These are early observations. Nobody has published verified case studies yet showing why a specific business dropped or how it recovered. If someone tells you every affected site was using AI content or buying links, they're claiming more than anyone knows right now.
What should you do now?
- Find the pages that lost visibility. Google Search Console is free. In the Performance report, compare the two weeks after 25 September with the two weeks before, then sort by pages and queries. That shows you where the loss is.
- Check for warnings. Look at the Security issues and Manual actions reports, and at the Pages report for anything Google can't index. A manual action is a penalty a Google reviewer applied by hand, and it needs a different fix from an algorithmic drop.
- Fix what the evidence shows. If the review turns up spam practices or technical faults, deal with them. Don't delete good pages just because their traffic dipped. Deleting in a panic often removes the pages that were keeping you visible.
- Track weekly and log your changes. Daily rankings move around too much to act on. Compare like-for-like weeks and write down the date of every change, so you can see later what made a difference.
If you'd rather start with a quick health check, our free SEO check flags the technical faults that most often get confused with an update.
How long does recovery take?
It can take months. Google has to notice, over time, that the site now follows its rules, and nobody can promise you a date. Google says as much in its own guidance on spam updates. Be wary of any provider who guarantees a quick recovery.
Want a second opinion?
If your enquiries have dropped and you're not sure why, get in touch. We'll go through your Search Console data with you and tell you plainly whether the update looks like the cause or something else is going on. You can read more about how we approach SEO in Brisbane.