Google is currently rolling out a global anti-spam update that may affect rankings in all languages. The official launch took place on 24 September 2026 at 9 h 15, Pacific Time, on 25 September at 00 h 15 in La Réunion. Google indicates that deployment can take up to two weeks.
If the clicks, impressions or positions of your site begin to move, the right reaction is not to immediately rewrite all your pages. First, we need to distinguish a normal variation during deployment, a technical problem and a real signal of non-compliance with the antispam rules.
For creators, coaches, consultants, trainers and independents, this update recalls an important rule: publishing with the help of AI is not prohibited. Produce massively unoriginal pages mainly to manipulate Google may, however, be a large-scale abuse of content.
Deployment status verified on 28 September 2026: the update is always indicated as active on the official Google Search dashboard.
What Google has officially announced
Google calls this operation the September 2026 spam update. The official scoreboard classifies it as a classification incident and identifies three key elements:
It is therefore neither a test reserved for the United States, nor an experiment limited to English. A French site, meeting room or intended for a French-speaking audience may be concerned.
Google does not publish a list of affected sites and does not give a percentage of affected queries. Nor does the company specify that a single practice would be covered by this update. Any assertion that it would target exclusively IA-generated texts, affiliate content or a particular CMS type would go beyond the official announcement.
One spam update is an evolution of the automated systems used by Google to detect practices intended to deceive users or manipulate the ranking. It is different from manual action, which results from a human examination and can be explicitly reported in Search Console.
Results may continue to change during the rollout. An increase observed today may shrink, just as a temporary decline may recover before the rollout ends. That is why a decision based on only twenty-four hours of data would be fragile.
What Google actually considers to be spam
The word spam does not simply mean poor content or an article that Google does not like. In its documentation, Google targets techniques used to deceive users or manipulate its filing systems, including systems that feed its generative responses.
Documented practices include stuffing keywords, links created primarily to influence ranking, satellite pages, hidden content, cloaking, abusive scraping and the massive generation of content without added value.
Large-scale content abuse deserves special attention. Google defines it as the production of many pages mainly intended to manipulate the ranking rather than to help users. The method of manufacturing is not the only criterion: Google cites the tools of the AI, but also the automatic assembly of sources, the industrial translation, the superficial reformulation and the creation of multiple sites aimed at masking this production.
VIFLY’s perspective: the risk does not come from simply using AI. It appears when the editorial strategy becomes a production chain without experience, without verification, without responsibility and without real reason to exist for the reader.
A professional can use an AI to organize ideas, improve a plan or correct his/her text while publishing an original, verified and useful resource. Conversely, a text entirely handwritten can remain manipulator if it artificially repeats keywords, copies a source or creates a false promise.
Google also documents the site reputation abuse, or abuse of reputation of a site. This practice involves the publication of third-party content in a recognized domain primarily to benefit from the signals in this domain. The presence of freelancers, fora, sponsored content or affiliated links is not automatically prohibited. The issue is the real editorial integration, the responsibility of the site, originality, transparency and the value brought to the public.
In the European Economic Area, Google specifies a special treatment for certain pages covered by this policy: they can be considered separately from the main domain and classified according to their own merits. This nuance does not change the essential recommendation for independents: maintain a consistent editorial line and clearly assume responsibility for what is published.
How to spot a dip without panicking
A traffic variation during an update does not prove that your site has been sanctioned. Traffic may decrease due to seasonality, reduced demand, change of position, indexation problem, breakdown or site modification.
Start by opening the Search Console Performance Report and compare a stable period before 24 September with the days after launch. Analyse separately:
A drop in clicks with stable impressions and positions does not tell the same story as a simultaneous drop in impressions and positions on a specific group of pages. In the first case, the demand or appearance of the result may have changed. In the second, a change in visibility is more likely.
Then check the Indexation, Manual Actions and Security Issues reports. An algorithmic spam update does not necessarily lead to individual notification. However, manual action or piracy may appear explicitly in the corresponding reports.
Example 1: Coach loses traffic on local pages
A coach created thirty almost identical pages for different cities, with only the name of the modified municipality. If these pages all lead to the same performance, without substantial local information, they can look like satellite pages designed primarily to capture multiple queries.
The bad reaction would be to quickly replace a few sentences with synonyms. The right decision is to delete or group pages without proper utility and then build a truly adapted resource when the local context justifies a separate page.
Its main space on VIFLY may clearly present its activity, offers and intervention area without artificially multiplying variants.
Example 2: A trainer automated fifty articles
A trainer asked a tool to generate fifty answers to close questions. The articles cite few sources, repeat the same advice and do not include any experience, example, or human update.
The problem is not the tool used. The problem is that these pages bring almost nothing more than what already exists. The audit must identify resources that can become truly useful, consolidate them, add demonstrations and remove those that do not serve any distinct purpose.
A strong article can then lead the reader to a LinkHub VIFLY or to an appointment request with VIFLY Booking. This path is stronger than a volume of pages made only to attract a click.
Nuances and points to bear in mind
Do not confuse spam update with core update. An antispam update mainly aims to respect the rules against manipulative practices. A main update, or core update, evaluates more widely the way Google ranks useful and relevant content.
Do not conclude until the deployment is complete. Google announces up to two weeks. It is relevant to document the variations now, but risky to multiply structural changes while the results are still moving.
Don't look for a tool that detects the penalty. No third party service knows Google's internal signals. Tools can show loss of visibility and temporal correlations, not prove the cause alone.
Do not automatically delete any AI-assisted content. Google's policy targets content generated on a large scale without value, regardless of the method. A useful, original and supervised resource does not become spam simply because an AI participated in its production.
Do not necessarily expect immediate recovery. Google indicates that improvements can help when its automated systems learn, over a period of months, that a site is now complying with antispam rules. Correcting today therefore does not guarantee a return of positions tomorrow.
Finally, an overall decline should not forget the real commercial value. A site may lose low-skilled visits while retaining its important demands. So also measure registrations, contacts, reservations and sales, not just the click curve.
What to do next? The VIFLY action plan
The update is not an invitation to write for Google with even more insistence. On the contrary, the best sustainable defence is to publish fewer interchangeable pages and more resources of visible, attributable and verifiable value.
FAQ on the September 2026 Google Spam Update
When did the update start?
Google indicates a start on 24 September 2026 at 9 h 15, Pacific Time, that is, on 25 September at 00 h 15 at Reunion.
How long will the deployment last?
Google announces a duration of up to two weeks. At 28 September 2026, the official dashboard does not yet signal its end.
Is France concerned?
Yes. The update applies globally and in all languages, therefore to French-language research and French sites.
Does Google penalize all content produced with an AI?
No. Google aims in particular at the massive production of little original content created mainly to manipulate the ranking. The production method alone is not sufficient to determine whether a page is abusive.
Does a decrease mean that my site received a manual penalty?
No. An algorithmic change can change positions without manual action. Check the Search Console Manual Actions report to see if Google has sent you a specific notification.
Should all pages be changed immediately?
No. Document variations, check technical issues and identify groups of pages that are really fragile. Massive changes during deployment can complicate diagnosis.