Google has officially confirmed that its June 2024 spam update, a week-long process aimed at improving the quality of search results by targeting websites that violate the company's spam policies, is complete.
The update will begin on June 20, 2024, and was announced via Google's Search Central Twitter account.
Google's search status dashboard shows that the update was completed at 9:10 a.m. PDT on June 27th.
This spam update is part of Google's ongoing efforts to fight webspam and improve user experience.
An important thing to note here is that this is not an algorithmic factor in the Site Reputation Abuse update, which Google has stated has not yet been implemented.
June 2024 Spam Update Highlights
- The update targets websites that violate Google's spam policies.
- This is separate from the expected site reputation abuse algorithm update.
- The rollout process lasted about a week.
Google's spam updates typically focus on eliminating different forms of web spam, such as:
- Auto-generated content for the sole purpose of improving search rankings
- Links purchased or sold with the intent to manipulate rankings
- Thin, duplicated, or poor quality content
- Hidden redirects and other deceptive techniques
This latest update follows Google’s previous spam update in March 2024.
Despite the impact of this update, some AI-generated content still performed well in search results.
An analysis by Search Engine Journal's Roger Montti found that one particular AI spam site ranked for more than 217,000 queries, with over 14,900 of them appearing in the top 10 search results.
The June update is expected to further improve Google's spam detection capabilities, but as with previous updates, it may cause fluctuations in websites' search rankings.
Violating Google's spam policies or relying heavily on AI-generated content can result in reduced visibility in search.
Conversely, legitimate websites that comply with Google's guidelines may benefit from less competition from spammy sites in search results.
SEO professionals and website owners are encouraged to review their sites for spammy practices and ensure they comply with Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
For more information about the June 2024 Spam Update and its potential impacts, please refer to Google's official communication channels, such as the Google Search Central Twitter account and the Google Search Status Dashboard.
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