Google launched its June 2024 spam update, saying it’s a normal spam update that will target websites violating its spam policies to improve search results.
One week to roll out
Google announced the June 2024 spam rollout on X, saying it will take one week to complete:
Update is not the algorithmic version
Google also said that when it completes the update, it will announce it on its Search Status Dashboard, where you can see if it impacts your search rankings.
Google Search Liaison later added, “The update is not the algorithmic version of its site reputation abuse policy,” instead linking it to Google’s standard spam update.
Here`s what that says:
- “While Google’s automated systems that detect spam content in search work consistently, we occasionally make changes to improve how they work. When we do so, we refer to those improvements as a spam update and share information about it in our list of Google Search ranking updates.”
- “For example, SpamBrain is our AI-based spam prevention system. From time to time, we modify it to improve spam detection and make sure it identifies new types.”
- “Sites that see a change following a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are in compliance. Sites that violate our policies may be ranked lower in results or may not be displayed at all. Making changes could help a site improve its ranking if our automated systems observe that the site is in compliance with spam policies for a few months.”
- “In the case of a link spam update (one that specifically addresses link spam), the changes may not result in an improvement. This is because when our systems remove the effects that spammy links can have, any ranking benefits the links previously generated for your site are lost. Any potential ranking benefits generated by those links cannot be recovered.”
Why and when Google updates its spam policies
Google updates its systems regularly to reduce spammy and low-quality content from its search results.
Three spam policies Google implements:
- Expired domain abuse
- Scaled content abuse
- Site reputation abuse
Google’s explanation:
- Google seeks to identify pages with scammy or fraudulent content and prevent them from showing up in Google Search results. Examples of online scams and fraud include: Impersonating a well-known business or service provider to trick users into paying money to the wrong party.
Spam updates target websites, breaking the following Google rules:
- “Tricking users with hidden redirects or other deceptive techniques.”
- “Automatically generating content solely to improve search rankings.”
- “Having thin, duplicated, or poor-quality content.”
- “Buying or selling links to manipulate rankings.”
Google’s last spam update in 2024 was on March 5, named the March 2024 spam update (great name), and was completed on March 20.
Potential impact on search results
Even though Google said its latest spam update is “just a normal update,” experience shows that when Google reforms its spam detection capabilities, it can cause some sites to experience search rank fluctuations or even exclusions.
And there’s no reason the June 2024 spam update will be different!
Website owners who receive notification of spam policy violations from Google via the Search Console can ask for reconsideration.
But there’s a silver lining!
Websites that violate Google’s refined spam policies may experience a fall in their search visibility, which could benefit sites creating quality content for their intended audience, as fewer spammy sites mean less competition.
