Google Rolls Out Its Fourth Spam Update of 2026

Here we go again.

Google started rolling out the September 2026 Spam Update on September 24. This is already the fourth spam update we've had this year.

What's interesting this time is how long Google expects it to take.

The March spam update was done in just 19 hours and 30 minutes. June took 2 days and 1 hour, and August took 2 days and 16 hours.

For September, Google says the rollout could take up to two weeks.

Barry Schwartz asked Google's John Mueller about the longer timeframe, and Mueller confirmed that this update is “likely to take longer than some of the previous ones.”

Does that mean this is a bigger spam update? We don't know.

Google hasn't told us what they're targeting, so anything beyond that would just be guessing. But going from spam updates that took a couple of days to one that could take two weeks is definitely something I'll be watching.

And things are already moving.

Google is extremely volatile right now

At the time of writing, we're seeing extremely high volatility in Google.

It's too early to say that the September Spam Update is responsible for all of it. The update has only just started rolling out, and trying to draw conclusions this early is usually a good way to get things wrong.

But the timing is interesting.

With volatility already high and Google telling us this update could take two weeks to finish, the next few days — and potentially weeks — could be a bit of a roller coaster.

Especially in iGaming.

I'll be keeping a close eye on the SERPs as the update progresses. Once things settle down, it should be much easier to see whether there are any obvious patterns among the winners and losers.

Four spam updates already

It's also worth looking at how frequently Google has been pushing spam updates this year.

We've had:

• March 2026
• June 2026
• August 2026
• September 2026

Four spam updates in just over six months.

The first three were all relatively quick. September is the first one where Google has given us a rollout window anywhere close to two weeks.

Whether that actually means anything remains to be seen.

What about the next core update?

Then there's the core update question.

Google's last core update started on May 21 and finished on June 2. So we're now more than four months from the start of the last one.

Could we get another core update after this?

Maybe.

There's nothing from Google suggesting that one is coming, and there's no reason a spam update has to be followed by a core update.

But we're getting to the point where another core update wouldn't exactly be surprising either.

For now, the September Spam Update is the one to watch.

With Google already this volatile and a rollout that could last two weeks, I wouldn't read too much into individual sites moving up or down over the next few days.

Let's see where everything lands when the dust settles.