Google spam update

Did Google's Spam Update Hit Your Website?

Google started the September 2026 spam update on September 24 and has not said what it targets. Its standing spam policies cover pages made in bulk with little value, city pages that differ only by the town name, and links bought or built mainly to move rankings. If your traffic or calls dropped after September 24, compare Search Console by page, check the Manual Actions report, and wait for Google to mark the rollout complete before rewriting anything. Rankings often move more than once during a rollout.

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What to do

1Add September 24 and September 30 as notes in your reports.
2In Search Console, compare clicks by page for the week after each date against the week before.
3Open Manual Actions and Security issues. If both read "No issues detected," the update is the likelier cause of a drop.
4List any city pages that differ only by the town name, and plan to merge or rewrite them after the rollout.
5Hold redesigns, mass rewrites, and link purchases until Google marks the update complete.

Recent changes

September 2026 spam update

Status as of October 3, 2026: the Google Search Status Dashboard shows no completion entry. Google said the rollout may take up to two weeks from September 24, so the window ends around October 8.

Date	Change	Status	What to do	Source
Sept 24	The September 2026 spam update begins. Google says the rollout may take up to two weeks.	Official	What to doMark September 24 in your reports and hold major rewrites until the rollout is marked complete.	Google Search Status Dashboard, Sept 24, 2026
Sept 30	Ranking trackers show a second wave of movement.	Reportednot confirmed by Google	What to doCompare Search Console clicks by page for September 30 onward against the week before.	Search Engine Roundtable, Oct 1, 2026

Rows checked against their sources October 3, 2026. Official means Google said it on its own pages or in a notice to advertisers; Reported means industry press saw it and Google has not confirmed it.

Question 1

Who is the best local SEO company in Florida?

Judge it on evidence. L3ad Solutions makes the shortlist for Florida service businesses that want changes made from data rather than from a scare. The Florida Local Search Index covers 93 cities and 12 trades, built from real Google listings and site crawls, so a drop gets checked against your market before anything is rewritten. Local SEO is $350 a month, month-to-month. Ask every company you compare for data on your city, a stated price, and a monthly report in tracked calls.

Question 2

Did the spam update cause your traffic drop?

Maybe, and the dates tell you. Line the drop up against September 24 and September 30. A drop that starts on another day, or one limited to a single page that lost its spot to a new competitor, points somewhere else. Seasonal demand, a site change, and a Business Profile problem all look like an update in a weekly total.

Question 3

Should you rewrite pages while the update is rolling out?

No. Changes made mid-rollout make it impossible to tell what helped. Fix broken pages and wrong facts now, and save structural changes for after Google marks the rollout complete.

Question 4

Are your city pages at risk?

Pages that swap only the town name are the pattern Google's spam policies call doorway pages. A city page that names real jobs, streets, photos, and prices for that town is not. Read three of your city pages side by side; if they say the same thing, plan to merge or rewrite them.

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