The Google December 2024 Spam Update has started rolling out just one day after the December 2024 Core Update finished.

Google Announced the December 2024 spam update through the Google Search Central Twitter/X account, saying:

Today we released the December 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:

December Spam Update Critical Information

  • Name: December 2024 Spam Update

  • Release Date: 19 December 2024 (GMT)

  • Duration: The update is expected to take one week to complete

  • What is it?: The December 2024 is the follow up to the June 2024 Spam update and is a further improvement to Google’s automated systems that detect search spam.

This is Google’s seventh and likely final update for 2024 following four previous core updates and three spam updates. We have previously said that Google tends to hold off on releasing major updates around the Holiday/End of year period. Following the November Core Update, December Core Update, and now the December Spam update, it’s fair to say that notion is well and truly out the window.

What Is a Spam Update?

Google search spam updates are notable changes/improvements that Google implements in its spam detection system.

According to Google, web spam is any content that is designed to deceive users or manipulate the search results in order to improve rankings. Google uses both human and systematic intervention to monitor web spam. In the case of a spam update, this means that Google is making a significant change to its spam detection systems.

Google’s Spam policies for Google web search outline that different types of web spam practices that Google may act against which include:

  • Cloaking
  • Doorway abuse
  • Expired domain abuse
  • Hacked content
  • Hidden text and link abuse
  • Keyword stuffing
  • Link spam
  • Machine-generated traffic (AI Content)
  • Malware and malicious practices
  • Misleading functionality
  • Scaled content abuse (Programmatic SEO)
  • Scraping
  • Sneaky redirects
  • Site reputation abuse
  • Thin affiliation
  • User-generated spam

As we can see, spam policies affect both on-site and off-site practices. Spam updates may include changes to how Google perceives and values things like backlinks, but it may also look at how things like on page text, site reputation abuse, and user generated spam may be used to manipulate rankings.

For a full breakdown, we recommend referring to Google’s “Spam policies for Google web search” document.

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