Google September 2026 Spam Update Done, Penalties Rise

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Hydraulic press crushing a webpage during the Google spam update

By NewSunSEO October 12, 2026

Google finished rolling out its September 2026 spam update in early October, alongside fresh guidance on factchecking AI content, a warning against fake authorship, and a string of new features in Search Console, Google Ads, and Merchant Center. The week also brought expanding search profiles, healthcare review snippet removals, and new ad format tests from OpenAI.

What happened with the Google September 2026 spam update?

Google’s September 2026 spam update completed its rollout during the first week of October. The update ran in multiple phases, with the third and final phase taking place around October 4 to 6. Search results showed continued volatility after the rollout finished, which is consistent with Google’s repeated reminder that spam updates can take time to settle.

Alongside the update, there are signs that Google is issuing more manual action penalties. Manual actions are taken by Google’s spam team against sites that violate Google’s spam policies, separate from the algorithmic changes that go live with a spam update. A rise in manual actions after a spam update usually means the spam team is following up on patterns the algorithm flagged.

What has Google said about AI content and authorship?

Google has urged publishers to factcheck AI-generated content before publishing. The recommendation treats AI text the same as any other source: the responsibility for accuracy still sits with the publisher, and unverified AI output can lead to the same quality issues that hurt rankings.

Google also added new sections to its helpful content documentation about how quality raters should review the main content of a page. Quality raters are the people Google trains to evaluate whether search results match what real users want, and their ratings feed into Google’s ranking systems without directly changing rankings themselves.

On authorship, Google warned against putting fake author names or misleading bylines on content. Deceptive authorship signals can undermine the trust signals Google looks for, especially when an article claims a level of expertise or first-hand experience that does not exist.

How is Google using AI inside its own spam systems?

Google has confirmed that its search spam updates use AI to find AI-generated spam at scale. That detail matters for site owners: if Google’s classifiers can flag machine-written pages designed to game rankings, thin or mass-produced AI content is more likely to be caught than to slip through.

Google also shared new data on crawling, indexing, and serving timelines, giving site owners a clearer picture of how long it takes for a page to move from discovery to appearing in search results.

What changed in Google Search and Search Console?

Nano Banana 2.1 is now available in Google AI Mode in Search. Google emailed publishers with numbers showing how many readers have selected them as a preferred source, which controls how often their links surface in Top Stories. Search profiles, Google’s feature for letting users follow publishers directly in Search, expanded to India and Canada, with Brazil listed as coming next.

Search Console gained multi-select country filters in the Performance report, so a site can compare traffic from several regions in a single view. The Search Generative Experience control page now shows top-level domain details, giving publishers more visibility into how their SGE surface looks.

Google also dropped review snippets for healthcare web pages, removing the star ratings and review summaries that had appeared under some medical listings, and added a recommendation in its crawl rate documentation to use the retry-after HTTP header when a site needs to slow crawling.

A new UGC fresh data program was revealed, aimed at getting user-generated content indexed faster, and Google local panels are testing a WhatsApp button that lets users message a business directly from the local pack.

What is new in Google Ads and Merchant Center?

Google Ads added new columns to AI Max campaigns covering brand inclusion, commission, and locations of interest for optimized targeting. Self-service conversion lift measurement is now available, and automated promotions for Search and Performance Max campaigns are rolling out soon. A new AI campaign localization tool entered beta, aimed at translating ad copy and creative for different markets.

Merchant Center launched a new UCP integration hub, a single place for merchants to connect the platforms that feed product data into Google’s surfaces.

What is OpenAI testing in ads?

OpenAI is testing new product labels on ChatGPT results, and a visual ad format that appears during AI image generation. Both tests point to OpenAI building a larger advertising layer inside ChatGPT, with formats designed to fit how people actually use the product rather than interrupting it.

What does the week add up to for site owners?

The week tied several threads together. Spam enforcement, including the completed update and a possible rise in manual actions, is the headline. Quality signals are getting sharper, with clearer guidance on AI content and authorship. And the product surface is widening, from Search Console reporting to new ad columns and OpenAI’s first ad tests. For anyone running a site, the practical takeaway is the same: clean authorship, factchecked AI content, and a watch on Search Console for both the new country filters and any SGE control changes.

For sites that have not checked how their pages render in different regions, rank position across a service area is what a geo grid report shows, and SEOScanPRO’s GEO Grids do this.

FAQ

When did the Google September 2026 spam update finish rolling out?

The final phase of the September 2026 spam update rolled out around October 4 to 6, 2026, and the update has since completed.

Is Google issuing more manual action penalties?

Reports during the week suggested Google may be issuing more manual action search penalties, which Google issues separately from algorithmic spam updates when a site is found to violate its spam policies.

What did Google say about AI-generated content?

Google recommended that publishers manually factcheck AI-generated content for accuracy before publishing, and warned that its spam updates use AI to detect AI-generated spam at scale.