Google has released a new algorithm update the search company is naming the Google June 2024 Spam Update yesterday, on June 20, 2024. This update does not have anything new specific changes that we are aware of, like some previous updates. Google just wrote, “Today we released the June 2024 spam update. It may take up to 1 week to complete, and we’ll post on the Google Search Status Dashboard when the rollout is done.”

Google did link to its generic spam updates page on its help documentation but that page was no updated with any new details. Google did say on LinkedIn, “It’s a normal spam update, it’s not the algorithmic part of reputation abuse. We’ll inform when that happens.” Also, this is not link related, because Google has separate link spam updates and this was labeled just a “spam update.” Google also confirmed that for me on X.

I will say the early reaction to this update is not positive. I mean, a lot of content creators and SEOs are fed up with Google search quality and these updates. Of course, these Google updates aim at improving overall search quality, while spam updates aim to remove spam that is manipulating those search results.

June 2024 Google Spam Update Quick Facts

Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:

• Name: Google June 2024 Spam Update
• Launched: June 20, 2024 at about 11:15 am ET
• Rollout: Will take about a week to fully rollout.
• Targets: Sites violating some of the Google search spam policies.
• Does Not Target: This update does not target link spam, it does not target the site reputation abuse policy and some other policies.
• Penalty: It penalizes some of spam techniques that are against Google’s spam policies.
• Global: This is a global update impacting all regions and languages.
• Impact: Google would not tell me what percentage of queries or searches were impacted by this update.
• Recover: If you were hit by this, Google said you should review its spam policies to ensure they are complying with those.
• Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to the spam update. It can take many months to recover, Google said.

Tracking Tools On June 2024 Spam Update

The tools are mostly calm, so it does not seem to be picking up big changes from this update yet. I don’t expect it to, since this is a spam update and not a core update. That being said, some tools have been heated for many days now.

Semrush:

SimilarWeb:

Advanced Web Rankings:

Mozcast:

Accuranker:

Algoroo:

SERPmetrics:

Mangools:

Wincher:

SERPstat:

Cognitive SEO:

Previous Google Spam Updates

Here are the documented previous spam updates:

• June 2021 spam update on June 23, 2021 – one day rollout
• June 2021 spam update on June 28, 2021 – one day rollout
• July 2021 link spam update started on July 26, 2021 and completed 29 days later on August 24, 2021
• November 2021 spam update started on November 3, 2021 and completed 8 days later on November 11, 2021
• October 2022 spam update started on October 19, 2022 and completed 48 hours later on October 21, 2022
• December 2022 link spam update started on December 14, 2022 and completed 19 days later on January 12, 2023
• October 2023 spam update started on October 4, 2023 and completed 15 days later on October 20, 2023
• March 2024 spam update started on March 5, 2024 and completed 15 days later on March 20, 2024

Spam Update Details

Google’s very own spam update help documentation says:

While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are constantly operating, we occasionally make notable improvements to how they work. When we do, we refer to this as a spam update and share when they happen on our list of Google Search ranking updates.

For example, SpamBrain is our AI-based spam-prevention system. From time-to-time, we improve that system to make it better at spotting spam and to help ensure it catches new types of spam.

Sites that see a change after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are complying with those. Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all. Making changes may help a site improve if our automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies with our spam policies.

In the case of a link spam update (an update that specifically deals with link spam), making changes might not generate an improvement. This is because when our systems remove the effects spammy links may have, any ranking benefit the links may have previously generated for your site is lost. Any potential ranking benefits generated by those links cannot be regained.

Other Spam Update Information

I do wonder if this spam update caused those indexing issues last night?

Everyone is just a bit feisty right now but here is the confirmation about it not being related to the site reputation abuse and not a link spam update:

It’s not. As I’ve shared before, I have ever confidence that when it is, we’ll share about that. Also, apologies for my original response below, which I’ve deleted but will also screenshot for the context. I know the important work you do (especially because we used to work… pic.twitter.com/xMurvQadlq

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 21, 2024

Forum discussion at X, Black Hat World and WebmasterWorld.

For the original iTunes version, click here.

We had a new Google spam update, the June 2024 spam update and what would be an SEO video recap within Google Search ranking volatility, at least this time it was on Father’s Day weekend. Google Search seemed to have an indexing bug last night. If your image snippets disappeared from Google months ago, it is likely a quality issue and not a technical issue. Glenn Gabe posted his adventure on trying to track AI Overviews in Google Search Console. Google posted FAQs on AI Overviews, asking why you can’t disable it but not giving a real answer. Google may be showing fewer links to Reddit and Quora, maybe. Google’s Gary Illyes gave two reasons why a spike in crawling may be a bad thing. Google warned on using JavaScript for structured data in Google Merchant Center. Pound signs in the Search Console reports are about sitelinks, not canonicalization. Google updated its hreflang documentation last week. Bing Webmaster Tools can show a clickthrough rate of over 100%. Google is testing people also ask with 6 results by default. Google’s people also ask mostly show Wikipedia content. Google has this scary Google Maps exploit where you can ruin a business’s local ranking. Google added menu buttons to the Google local panels. Google Maps updated its fake engagement policy. Local Service Ads are coming to Google Maps. Google Ads is forcing some advertisers off credit card payments. Google AdSense has new privacy and messaging for users in some US states. Apple updated its Applebot documentation. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google unleashed a new spam update – the June 2024 spam update – here is what we know. Google had a big indexing issue last night, that lasted several hours. Google spoke more about the images not showing up in search and that it is more likely a quality issue with your site. Google Local Service Ads will soon show on Google Maps. Google Discover is testing a floating search bar. Google Safe Search has a new set of FAQs. Plus I posted the SEO video recap – it was a busy week!

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google June 2024 Spam Update Takes Target
  
  
  Google has released a new algorithm update the search company is naming the Google June 2024 Spam Update. This update does not have anything new specific changes that we are aware of, like some previous updates. Google just wrote, “Today we released the June 2024 spam update. It may take up to 1 week to complete, and we’ll post on the Google Search Status Dashboard when the rollout is done.”
• 
  Google Search Bug: Not Indexing or Serving New Content
  
  
  Google Search may be having a new indexing or serving (or both) bug where it is now showing new content from sites that are creating new content. Sites like the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, CNN, Forbes, and others are showing very few new pages being indexed in the past hour by Google Search.
• 
  Local Service Ads Coming To Google Maps On iOS
  
  
  Google is notifying some advertisers that use Google’s Local Service Ads program that soon their ads will be shown on Google Maps. It will start with the iOS version of the Google Maps app and then expand to other platforms and surfaces from there.
• 
  Google Search Images Go Missing? Might Be A Quality Issue.
  
  
  For the past several months, generally around the helpful content update in September and the various core updates we had over the past several months, there have been complaints with image thumbnails for some sites not appearing in the Google Search result listings. Google responded again to the issue, saying it is not a technical thing for most sites but rather a quality issue.
• 
  Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update, Volatility & Indexing Bug, AI Overviews Tracking & FAQs, Google Maps Exploit, Google Ads, AppleBot & More
  
  
  We had a new Google spam update, the June 2024 spam update and what would be an SEO video recap within Google Search ranking volatility, at least this time it was on Father’s Day weekend. Google Search seemed to have an indexing bug last night. If your image snippets disappeared from Google months ago, it is likely a quality…
• 
  Google Posts Safe Search FAQs
  
  
  Ashwarya, the Community Manager for Google Search, posted a bunch of resources around Google Safe Search. He wrote, “We are going to help you out in every way possible. Here are a few articles to get you started on Safe Search.”





• 
  Google Tests Floating Search Bar In Google Discover
  
  
  Google is testing a floating search bar in the Google Discover results. So when you load up the Google home page on your mobile device and scroll through some Discover stories, the search bar sticks to the stop and floats over the stories.




• 
  Google Dublin Whiteboard Signage
  
  
  Here is a Google sign that is at the Google Dublin office which also is a whiteboard. You can write messages on the Google logo. I think this is old but I found it on Instagram recently.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

• 12 Important Image SEO Tips You Need To Know, Search Engine Journal
• AI Overviews Are Breaking Search (Here’s How They Could Fix It), WordStream
• Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywords: What’s the Difference?, Semrush
• Competitive Intel: Here’s What an SEO Competitor Analysis Tells You, TopRank
• How Sites With Less SEO Win Google + 4 More SEO Tips, Zyppy SEO Consulting
• How To Submit a Reconsideration Request To Google, BruceClay
• Initial Impact of Google’s AI Overviews: SEO Research Study, seoClarity
• SEO Insights from Google Engineer Ni Lao’s Work on ML, IR & NLP, Ethan Lazuk
• The Scary Surge and Drop in Indexing in Google Search Console (GSC) And Why That Might Be Totally Fine, GSQI
• What Is YMYL & How Does It Affect SEO?, Semrush

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

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