Google's Spam Update Shakes Search Results for the Third Time

Google's September 2026 spam update, launched on the 24th of last month, saw a third wave of search ranking volatility between October 4 and 6, following two previous waves around September 25 to 27 and September 30.

Google stated that this update differs from its previous three spam updates in 2026, as its rollout period extends about two weeks instead of one or two days as usual, which explains the spacing between the three waves.

Google has not yet issued any confirmation that the update's rollout is complete, meaning search rankings may remain volatile until it concludes.

Publishers and Arabic website owners are closely monitoring these updates, as any change in rankings directly impacts organic traffic coming from search, which is a major source of traffic for many news websites and e-commerce stores in the region.

What do these terms mean?

Spam Update: A change in Google's ranking system targeting websites that circumvent visibility rules.

Ranking Volatility: Sharp movements in websites' positions on search engine result pages over a short period.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Working to increase a website's visibility in organic search results.

Crawling and Indexing: Visits by Google's software programs to a website to log its pages and include them in search results.