After six months with no updates from Google, we’re now facing a flurry of them in a matter of weeks. Google’s core algorithm update at the beginning of June has now been followed by a new Google Search spam update.
Spam update
This update to its algorithm was completed within 24 hours on 23rd June, and will soon be in effect all over the world. This will be followed by a second one in the week commencing the 28th June. However, it shouldn’t affect your ranking unless you haven’t been following Google’s rules and guidelines. If it does, it’s worth checking your site’s security to ensure you’re not unknowingly serving your users spam.
Google’s spam updates target low-quality sites which trick users into providing personal details or installing malware, phishing scams and other bad actors through demotion in the search rankings or removing them from the index entirely.
Google’s fight against spam
When writing about how they fought spam in 2020, Google informed us that it finds 40 billion spammy web pages a day. They also gave some advice on how we can protect our sites against spam:
“Even if we could detect and protect against all spam, the hackers would not cease exploiting loopholes until they’re all closed. Website owners can protect their sites by practicing good security hygiene: it is easier to prevent a site from getting hacked than to recover from a hack. Google offers resources to help you understand the most common ways websites get hacked and how to use Search Console to check whether your site got hacked. Please do take a look and let’s keep the web safer together!”
Summary
Google’s updates from both 23rd and 28th June will help keep search results spam free by removing or demoting spam sites, so if you notice a drop in your rankings you should check to make sure your site hasn’t been hacked. Following Google’s rules and guidelines and keeping your site secure should help you avoid being affected by any spam updates.
What do you think about this new update? We would love to hear your thoughts. Comment below or tweet us @TeamTillison.
