Google confirms an algorithm updated targeted at fighting spam has finished rolling out to search results.
Google’s spam update has finished rolling out in search results worldwide, the company confirms in a tweet.
Exact details of the update were not provided, though Google regularly rolls out spam updates to maintain the quality of its search results.
Google launched three spam updates already this year. This latest update marks the fourth Google algorithm update targeted at spam this calendar year.
Thanks to these updates, Google’s automated systems keep more than 99% of visits from search results spam-free.
Last year Google’s automated systems blocked 25 billion spammy pages from being indexed in search results every day.
Websites following Google’s webmaster guidelines shouldn’t have anything to worry about with respect to these spam updates.
Google has a strict definition of what it considers spam, which primarily includes low quality sites that trick users into providing personal information or installing malware.
Other types of spam include phishing scams and websites disguising themselves as other reputable sites.
Although low quality content may fit some peoples’ definition of spam, it does not fit Google’s definition.
“Spam,” as described in Google’s guidelines, generally has some malicious intent behind it.
With that said, even sites that follow Google’s guidelines could be guilty of spam and not even know it.
If a site is not adequately secured it’s vulnerable to being hacked, which can result in the website serving spam and/or malware to users.
Whether its hacked spam or intentional spam, it’s all the same to Google when it comes to spam updates.
Hacked websites aren’t treated any different, because the onus is on the site owner to keep it secure
Google publishes a spam fighting report every year, which clearly shows the instances of hacked spam keep rising.
If your site suddenly drops in rankings following this month’s spam update update, check your site’s security and look for signs of a possible attack.
We’re sure to learn more about the impact of the November 2021 spam update when Google publishes its annual spam fighting report next year.
This update is complete.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) November 11, 2021
