On August 18, 2026, at 9:27 AM PDT, Google released its August 2026 Spam Update.
Update Summary
- Type: Normal Spam Update
- Scope: Global, all languages and locations
- Release Time: 9:27 AM PDT, August 18, 2026
- Rollout: Expected to take a few days
- Policy Changes: No new policy changes announced
- Similar Updates: March and June 2026 Spam Updates
This is a normal spam update that applies globally across all locations and languages. The rollout may take a few days to complete.
From January through August 2026, Google has released a total of six updates, including both major and smaller updates.
The August 2026 Spam Update is a routine, global spam filter refresh. No new spam policies have been announced as part of this update. Instead, Google is rerunning and refreshing its existing spam detection systems to identify websites and pages that violate its current spam policies.
What SERP Changes Can You Expect?
As you know, Google has not announced any changes to its existing spam policies. However, you may still see ranking fluctuations in the SERPs as the update rolls out.
Google will reevaluate pages based on its existing spam policies and detection systems. This may include areas such as:
- Scaled content abuse
- Doorway pages
- Link spam
- Cloaking
- Scraped content
- AI-generated content used in ways that violate Google’s spam policies
- Other forms of search spam
Websites or pages that were previously borderline cases may experience stronger ranking demotions or even deindexing if they are found to violate Google’s current spam policies.
On the other hand, websites that were previously being held back because of spam from competing sites may see positive ranking changes as Google improves its ability to identify and filter spam.
Overall, the impact will depend on how well each website complies with Google’s existing spam policies as the update continues to roll out.
