Google released the September 2026 spam update on September 24. It applies worldwide and in all languages. This is Google's fourth spam update of 2026.
Google says the rollout may take up to two weeks to finish. Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz asked whether the two-week estimate was a typo. Google's John Mueller replied on Bluesky that it's "likely to take longer than some of the previous ones."
Google hasn't said what this update targets. It's the first spam update since Google changed its site reputation abuse policy on August 28, but Google hasn't linked the two.
Why a longer rollout makes attribution harder
The previous three spam updates each finished in under three days, which gave marketers a tight window to check their rankings against. This time, that window could stretch to two weeks. Search Engine Roundtable reported ranking volatility starting around September 23, the day before Google's announcement.
So treat the rollout as a watch period until Google marks it complete on the Search Status Dashboard. Rankings were already moving before the announcement, and a two-week rollout will overlap with whatever else shifts in that time. Before you attribute a drop to the spam update, check whether competitors moved too, and whether your visibility changed outside Google.
For sites that do see changes, Google's spam update documentation recommends reviewing its spam policies. It adds that making changes may help if its automated systems learn, over a period of months, that the site complies.
How to track the update's impact with Semrush
To figure out whether a drop is tied to the spam update or something else, understand when your SEO visibility changed, who else moved, and where.
Position Tracking records your target keywords' positions every day. Compare your rankings from before September 23 with the days after September 24. Keep checking through the rest of the rollout, not just the first few days.
Organic Rankings shows how competitors' visibility changed over the same period. If your whole competitive set moved together, the change probably reflects something broader. If only your site moved, look closer at your own pages.
The Visibility Overview report in the AI Visibility Toolkit tracks your citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Perplexity in one dashboard. If your Google rankings dropped but your citations in ChatGPT and Perplexity held steady, look for a cause specific to Google.
To see whether volatility is hitting search results in general, Semrush Sensor tracks daily SERP movement by category.
