Google Spam Update (September 2026) Completed on October 8. Three Points to Check in Search Console Now That the 14-Day Volatility Period Has Ended

Google’s “September 2026 Spam Update” finished rolling out on October 8, 2026. Since it began on September 24, the deployment lasted approximately 14 days. While multiple SEO tools detected ranking fluctuations starting around September 23, Google explained that the movement at that time was separate from the spam update.
From the perspective of someone who monitors multiple client sites daily, the “calm period immediately after a rollout completes” is a time when anxiety and relief often intersect. While organizing the details of the update, I would like to consider what can be done concretely from now on.

What we know and what we don’t know about this update

Regarding the spam update, Google only stated that it “implemented enforcement based on spam policies globally and in all languages.” It has not been officially disclosed which specific spam tactics were targeted.
A timing detail that cannot be overlooked is that on August 28, 2026, Google revised its policy regarding “Site Reputation Abuse.” This is a response to the practice of issuing large amounts of low-quality content by borrowing the brand power of other companies, but no direct link to this spam update has been indicated.
Some SEO media outlets have expressed the view that “scaled content abuse, repurposing expired domains, and cloaking were the targets.” However, since Google has not officially confirmed this, it is appropriate to take it as “one perspective.” Changing site settings based on unsubstantiated information could potentially lead to unnecessary negative impacts.

Before concluding that fluctuations are the “fault of spam”

Immediately after an update, I sometimes receive consultations saying, “My site dropped. Was it treated as spam?” When I actually investigate the cause, there are many cases unrelated to spam.
A common issue is the deterioration of Core Web Vitals. If page loading speed drops or layout shifts increase, rankings can fall regardless of the spam update. It is also not rare for rankings to drop relatively as a result of competitor sites significantly strengthening their content.
I want you to be aware that algorithm fluctuations and manual actions are completely different things. “Manual Actions,” where Google’s spam team makes judgments manually, arrive as explicit notifications in Search Console. If there is no notification, at least you have not been dealt with manually.
Before panicking and changing your site structure or deleting large amounts of articles, it is important to check the data first.

Three points to check in Search Console this week

1. Manual Actions Report

You can check this immediately from the “Security & Manual Actions” menu on the left side of Search Console. If anything is displayed, it means a penalty has been issued directly by Google. In this case, you need to fix the issues according to the displayed content and then submit a “Request Review.” If this area is blank, you have at least not received any manual actions.

2. Traffic trends around September 24

Open the “Search Performance” report and set the period to “Last 3 months.” If there is a clear sharp drop in the clicks/impressions graph around September 24, it is possible that you were affected by this update. Conversely, if there is almost no fluctuation, you can judge that you were not the target this time.
Even if there was a sharp drop, do not rush to find the cause there. As a next step, it is important to identify the affected pages before thinking about countermeasures.

3. Changes in the number of indexed pages

Check the “Indexing” -> “Pages” report to see if the number of non-indexed pages has suddenly increased. Pages judged as spam may be excluded from the index. By checking the reasons for excluded pages (e.g., “Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user,” “Crawled – currently not indexed”), you can see what you should do next.

What you can do with a long-term perspective

Taking this update as an opportunity, I would like to re-inventory content. I will list three points I am careful about when looking at client sites.
Review how you handle AI-generated articles. There is no problem with using AI for drafting or structural assistance. However, if there are many articles where the generated text is published almost as-is, the risk of being recognized as scaled content is increasing. It is important to increase the uniqueness of the page by adding primary information or personal experience.
Check the update frequency of past articles. Sites with many articles left untouched for over 3 years are likely to be evaluated lower in terms of information freshness. You don’t need to update every article, but developing a habit of reviewing the top 20% of articles with the most traffic first is likely to produce long-term effects.
Regularly inspect your external link profile. Please check the referring domains from the “Links” report in Search Console, and consider adding obviously suspicious mass links to your disavow file. Especially in cases where you purchased an expired domain and inherited backlinks, there is a possibility that you were a target this time.
Rather than being swayed by every update, having a habit of opening Search Console once a week will keep you stable both mentally and practically. I believe that building a system that allows you to quickly notice changes in Google is the best countermeasure in the long run.