Google's Spam Updates, Explained

"The update coincided with Google's cancellation of the &num=100 query parameter, which lowered impression counts in Search Console. Thus assessing the impact of the update in Search Console is confusing as the two events occurred more or less concurrently. Google stated the update focused on spammy web pages. To gauge the impact on your site, view the "Clicks" metric in Search Console's "Performance" report."

"Google's spam updates: Are automated, with no penalty message in Search Console, even if impacted. Can only affect sites negatively. Traffic increases result from competitor declines. Are usually recoverable after fixing the cause(s). The recovery may take months, although it does not depend on another core update. Focus on sites violating its spam policies, and likely pertains only to on-site content. When it targets external backlinks, Google usually includes "link" in the update name. Otherwise, spam updates don't include backlink signals."

"Cloaking or sneaky redirects. When a page (i) shows different content to search engines and users or (ii) redirects for users, but not search engines. Doorway abuse. When a site has pages targeting similar keywords - a common reason to be hit by a spam update. To recover, cluster keywords by intent and restructure the site to target those groups instead of each word or phrase."

Google's August 2025 algorithm update coincided with cancellation of the &num=100 query parameter, which reduced Search Console impression counts and complicates impact assessment. The update targeted spammy web pages and typically causes drastic click declines; affected sites would show steep drops in clicks from August 26 through September 22. Spam updates are automated, produce no Search Console penalty message, only harm sites, and are usually recoverable after fixing violations, though recovery may take months. Focus areas include on-site content violations such as cloaking, sneaky redirects, doorway abuse, and expired domain abuse; backlink targeting would include "link" in the update name. To gauge site impact, view the "Clicks" metric in Search Console's "Performance" report.

Read at Practical Ecommerce