October 2022 Spam Update: What It Targets

If your rankings moved in the last day or two, you may be wondering if the October 2022 spam update is the reason. Google released it on 19 October 2022. It is a global update to Google’s spam detection systems, it affects all languages, and Google says it could take several days to finish rolling out.

Google has not named a single tactic it is going after. What it targets is sites that break its spam policies. In this article I’ll explain what that means in plain terms, how to tell if your site is affected, and what I would do this week.

What Google Has Confirmed About the October 2022 Spam Update

The facts so far are short. Google Search Central announced the update on Twitter on 19 October and said it would update its ranking release history page once the rollout is complete.

• Start date: 19 October 2022.
• Scope: global, all regions and all languages.
• Rollout time: Google’s documentation says a spam update can take several days to complete. It has not given an end date yet.
• Targets: no specific tactic named. Google points site owners to its spam policies.
• Size: Google has not said what share of searches is affected.

The last confirmed spam update was in November 2021, so this is the first one in about 11 months. In 2021 Google also ran two spam updates in June and a link spam update in July.

The timing matters for another reason. Just one week earlier, on 13 October, Google replaced its old Webmaster Guidelines with Google Search Essentials. The spam policies in that new document are the clearest list we have of what spam updates look for.

What Is a Google Spam Update?

A spam update is an improvement to the automated systems Google uses to find spam. When those systems get better, they catch sites they missed before. Those sites then rank lower or drop out of results.

It is different from a core update. A core update changes how Google judges overall quality and relevance. A spam update is narrower. It is about catching pages that try to trick Google or harm users.

The Role of SpamBrain

Google’s main spam-fighting system is called SpamBrain. It is an AI-based system that Google says it launched in 2018 and first described publicly in its webspam report in April 2022.

In that report, Google said SpamBrain found nearly six times more spam sites in 2021 than in 2020. It also reported a 70% drop in hacked spam and a 75% drop in gibberish spam on hosting platforms. Google has not said that this update is a SpamBrain change, but spam updates generally mean the detection systems have been improved.

Algorithmic, Not a Manual Penalty

This is the part people mix up most often. A spam update is algorithmic. It works automatically, and you will not get a message about it in Search Console.

A manual action is a separate thing. A person on Google’s team reviews a site and applies it, and it shows up in the Manual actions report in Search Console. You can have one, both or neither.

What the October 2022 Spam Update Targets

Since Google has not listed specific targets, the honest answer is: anything covered by its spam policies. Google’s own wording is that sites that violate the policies may rank lower in results or not appear at all.

Here are the spam policies as they now appear in Search Essentials, explained in plain words:

• Cloaking: showing Google one version of a page and users a different one.
• Doorway pages: many near-identical pages built to rank for small variations of a search, all funnelling users to the same place.
• Hacked content: pages, links or code that someone added to your site without your permission.
• Hidden text and links: text or links placed only for search engines, for example white text on a white background.
• Keyword stuffing: filling a page with the same words or lists of place names to try to rank.
• Link spam: buying or selling links that pass ranking value, large link exchanges, and links placed only to manipulate rankings.
• Machine-generated traffic: sending automated queries to Google, such as scraping results.
• Malware and malicious behaviour: pages that install harmful software or change users’ settings without consent.
• Misleading functionality: pages that promise a service, like a tool or a download, and don’t deliver it.
• Scraped content: copying content from other sites without adding your own value.
• Sneaky redirects: sending users to a different page from the one Google saw.
• Spammy automatically generated content: text produced by a program to manipulate rankings rather than help people.
• Thin affiliate pages: product pages copied from the merchant feed with nothing original added.
• User-generated spam: spam added by visitors in comments, forums or user profiles.

The full wording is on Google’s spam policies page. I’d read it in full if your site uses any of these tactics, even lightly.

Which Sites Usually Feel Spam Updates

In my experience, ordinary business sites that publish their own content rarely notice a spam update. The sites that do tend to fall into a few groups:

• Sites built mostly on auto-generated or spun text.
• Sites that rely heavily on bought links or private blog networks.
• Sites that were hacked and don’t know it yet, often older WordPress installs with outdated plugins.
• Forums and blogs with open comments or profile pages full of spam links.
• Large affiliate sites with thin, copied product pages.

The hacked group worries me most, because the owner did nothing wrong on purpose. Injected pages can sit on a site for months without anyone looking.

How to Check If Your Site Was Affected

The update only started yesterday, so don’t make big decisions on one day of data. I’d watch now and analyse properly once Google says the rollout is done.

When you do look, follow these steps:

1. Mark the date. Note 19 October 2022 as the start. Any change before that date is not this update.
2. Check Search Console Performance. Compare clicks for the days after 19 October with the same days the week before. Then compare with the same period last year if your traffic is seasonal.
3. Find where the change is. Use the Pages tab to see if the drop is site-wide or in one folder, such as /blog/ or /forum/. Spam problems often sit in one section.
4. Look at Manual actions and Security issues. Both reports are in Search Console. A manual action or a hacked-site warning changes your plan completely.
5. Search your own site. Try site:yourdomain.com plus words like casino, pills, loans or replica. Strange pages in the results are a strong sign of a hack.
6. Rule out other causes. Check for recent site changes, server errors, noindex tags, robots.txt edits and tracking problems.

Don’t Confuse It With September’s Updates

September was a busy month. The September 2022 core update ran from 12 to 26 September, and a product reviews update ran alongside it. The helpful content update finished on 9 September.

If your traffic changed in September, that is a different story. I covered those overlapping changes in September 2022 core update and product reviews update. Keep the dates separate so you don’t fix the wrong problem.

What a Spam Hit Usually Looks Like

A drop from a spam update often looks sharp. Rankings fall over a few days, not slowly over weeks, and pages may disappear for searches they used to rank for.

A slow slide over several months is usually something else, such as stronger competitors or content getting out of date. I wouldn’t blame a spam update for that kind of pattern.

What to Do If Your Rankings Dropped

Google’s advice after spam updates is simple: review the spam policies and fix anything that breaks them. Google also says that fixing problems may help a site recover in its automated systems, but over a period of months.

Here is the order I’d work in:

1. Clean up any hack first. Remove injected pages and code, update the CMS and plugins, change passwords, and check for unknown admin users. Then use the Security issues report if Google flagged the site.
2. Find pages that break a policy. Go section by section. Look for auto-generated text, doorway pages, copied product descriptions and keyword-stuffed pages.
3. Fix or remove them. Rewrite pages that have real value. Delete or noindex pages that only exist to rank.
4. Deal with user spam. Delete spam comments and profiles, add moderation, and add rel="ugc" or rel="nofollow" to links users post.
5. Stop link schemes. End any paid link deals that pass ranking value. Mark paid or sponsored links with rel="sponsored".
6. Document what you changed. Keep a simple log with dates. It helps you connect future ranking changes to your work.

Recovery Takes Time

There is no quick switch back. Google’s systems need to see that the site now follows the rules, and Google says that can take months.

For link spam, Google has been clear that ranking benefits gained from spammy links can be lost and not regained. If your rankings were built on those links, fixing them won’t bring the old positions back. You’ll need to earn better links.

When a Reconsideration Request Helps

A reconsideration request is only for manual actions. If the Manual actions report says “No issues detected”, there is nothing for a person to review.

If you do have a manual action, fix the issue fully, then submit a request that explains what you found and what you changed. Be specific and honest.

Mistakes I’d Avoid This Week

Ranking drops make people react fast. These are the mistakes I most often see after any Google update:

• Changing everything at once. If you rewrite every page during a rollout, you won’t know what helped or hurt.
• Mass disavowing links. Google already ignores many spammy links. Disavow only clear, bad links you built or paid for and can’t remove.
• Deleting good content. Not every page that lost traffic is spam. Check the page against the policies before you remove it.
• Trusting third-party “winners and losers” lists early. One day into a rollout, the data is noisy.
• Assuming you were hit. Normal ranking movement happens every day. Look for a clear, lasting change first.

How to Stay Safe From Future Spam Updates

Google says spam updates will keep coming, and its systems also learn between announced updates. The best protection is boring: don’t do the things on the spam list, and keep your site clean.

Check Your Links Regularly

I look at a site’s links every few months. The Search Console Links report shows your top linking sites and anchor text. A sudden wave of links from unrelated or foreign-language sites can be a sign of negative SEO or an old link deal you forgot about.

Keep the Site Secure

• Update your CMS, themes and plugins as soon as updates come out.
• Remove plugins and themes you no longer use.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor login for admin accounts.
• Check the Security issues report in Search Console once a month.

Moderate Anything Users Can Post

If people can comment, create profiles or post in a forum, spam will arrive. I recommend holding first-time comments for review and marking all user links with rel="ugc". For forums, block profile links until a member has posted a few times.

Make Content for People

Spam policies and the helpful content system come from the same idea. Pages should exist to help people, not just to rank. If you want a broader look at this, my guide to what “people-first content” means covers the August update and how it fits with Google’s other systems.

A practical example: a local plumber with 200 city pages that only swap the town name is close to the doorway pages policy. Ten strong pages for the areas they really serve, each with real details, is safer and usually ranks better anyway.

Conclusion

The October 2022 spam update started on 19 October and should take several days to roll out. Google hasn’t named a target, so the guide is its spam policies, which it refreshed under Search Essentials just a week ago.

Most sites that follow the rules won’t notice it. If yours drops sharply once the rollout ends, check for hacks and manual actions first, then review each section against the policies. A good next step is to audit your site for unhelpful content at the same time, because thin and auto-generated pages tend to cause problems with both systems.