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    SEO News Week 39: Spam Update With a Long Rollout

    8 min read
    Quick Answer

    Google launched the September 2026 Spam Update on September 24, 2026, and expects a rollout of up to two weeks. This is the longest announced spam update window of the year. On the same day, Google Search Console added a new search type for multimodal searches. Since September 15, 2026, the Chrome User Experience Report has tracked four ad metrics. The most important task for advertisers and website owners: document positions now and do not make structural changes during the rollout.

    At a Glance

    NewsWhat Is ChangingWho It AffectsAction NeededSource + Date
    September 2026 Spam UpdateLaunched September 24, 2026; worldwide and all languages; rollout of up to two weeksAll websites, especially those with thin or purchased contentDocument rankings; do not make structural changesSearch Engine Journal, September 24, 2026
    Multimodal search type in Search ConsoleNew filter for Lens, Circle to Search, image uploads, and Chrome image searchWebsites with product, property, or detail photosCheck the report; identify image-related pagesGoogle Search Central Blog, September 2026
    Four new ad metrics in CrUXAd count, screen area share, bytes, and processing load, explicitly without thresholdsWebsites with ad placements or many third-party scriptsMonitor only; not a ranking factorChrome for Developers, September 15, 2026
    Google AI Mode studyClicks to external websites drop by 18.8 percentage points; satisfaction also declinesAnyone relying on organic traffic as their primary channelRethink channel mix and measurementSearch Engine Land, September 23, 2026
    Google Posts with unverified contact informationGoogle may remove posts with an unverified phone number, email address, or social media handleTrade businesses, restaurants, medical practices, and local retailersReview posts for contact informationSearch Engine Roundtable, September 25, 2026

    Google Launches the September 2026 Spam Update With a Two-Week Rollout Window

    Google launched the September 2026 Spam Update on September 24, 2026, at 9:15 a.m. Pacific time, with a rollout window of up to two weeks, according to Search Engine Journal that day. It was 6:15 p.m. in Germany. Google describes the update as one that "applies globally and to all languages," meaning it affects searches worldwide, in every language. Search Engine Roundtable confirmed the launch on the same day, as did PPC Land.

    A spam update is not a core update. Google uses it to enforce its spam policies, for example against automatically generated mass content, purchased content on third-party domains, or deceptive redirects. Google has not identified a specific target for this update.

    The duration stands out. According to the Google Search Status Dashboard, the March 2026 spam update ran for 19 hours and 30 minutes, the June update for 2 days and 1 hour, and the August update for 2 days and 16 hours. Up to two weeks is the longest spam update window of the year. Search Engine Roundtable also reported significant ranking volatility on September 23, 2026, and September 24, 2026.

    What Does This Mean for Your Business?

    During a two-week rollout, interim results are meaningless. Positions can drop in the first week and recover in the second. Mark September 24, 2026, with a date marker in your reporting and compare the Search Console performance report each week against the preceding four weeks. Wait until the rollout is reported complete before deciding whether anything has happened at all. If you rewrite content, consolidate pages, and change internal links during the rollout, you will no longer be able to separate cause from effect.

    Search Console: New Multimodal Search Type for Lens and Circle to Search

    Google announced reporting for multimodal web searches in Search Console on the Search Central Blog in September 2026. Search Engine Land described the new filter on September 24, 2026, with PPC Land and Search Engine Roundtable covering it the same day.

    Multimodal search means that a search query includes an image rather than consisting only of text. The performance report now separates web results into text-based and multimodal searches. According to PPC Land, the second group includes four entry points: Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android devices, image uploads directly in Google Search, and Chrome's image search feature in the context menu.

    Available data includes impressions, average position, pages, countries, and devices. The queries dimension is entirely absent for this search type because searches primarily use images rather than words. According to PPC Land, the global rollout began on September 24, 2026.

    What Does This Mean for Your Business?

    For businesses with visible products or properties, this is the first reliable measurement point for image searches. A trade business with documented project examples, a restaurant with photos of its dishes, or a real estate agent with property photos can now see which pages people find using a camera. Open the performance report, set the filter to Multimodal, and note the top pages. At Stroe Media, we use this list as the basis for targeted improvements to captions, file names, and alt text.

    Chrome User Experience Report Tracks Four New Ad Metrics

    Chrome for Developers announced four new dimensions in the Chrome User Experience Report, or CrUX, on September 15, 2026. CrUX is the public database of real-world usage measurements from the Chrome browser. Search Engine Land reported that Google also linked to the metrics in its page experience documentation.

    The four metrics are Ad Count (the number of ads in the viewport), Ad Density (the share of screen area occupied by ads), Ad Weight Network (data usage in bytes), and Ad Weight CPU (processing load in milliseconds). Chrome explicitly states that these metrics are not part of Core Web Vitals and have no recommended targets. All four are labeled experimental.

    What Does This Mean for Your Business?

    If your website does not sell ad space, nothing changes for you. This becomes relevant for sites with embedded third-party scripts such as chat widgets, tracking pixels, and recommendation boxes, because these elements may fall within the same measurement path. Use the data as additional support when making an internal case for reducing scripts. They are not a valid ranking argument, as Google itself says.

    Study: AI Mode Reduces Clicks to External Websites by 18.8 Percentage Points

    A field study presented by Search Engine Land on September 23, 2026, found that AI Mode reduced clicks to external websites by 18.8 percentage points. The study followed 1,100 U.S. Chrome users over ten days, with data collected in March 2026. After three days of normal usage, participants were randomly assigned to three groups: traditional Google Search, search without AI Overviews, and mandatory use of Google AI Mode.

    In the AI Mode group, clicks to external websites fell by 18.8 percentage points. News sites lost 12.5 points, Reddit lost 21.2 points, and Wikipedia lost 9.9 points. The number of search sessions dropped by 0.92 per day. Usage of other search engines, such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo, increased by 11.2 percentage points. Negative feedback came from 34 percent of participants, while 29 percent gave positive feedback.

    The study acknowledges its own limitations: the sample was younger and more highly educated than average, the experiment lasted only seven days, and AI Mode usage was required rather than voluntarily chosen. For context on scale: on September 22, 2026, Search Engine Land covered Comscore's report for the second quarter of 2026, which found that AI Overviews appeared in 39.4 percent of U.S. desktop searches in June 2026, compared with 25.8 percent in July 2025. Both figures refer to the U.S. market; comparable data for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland is not available.

    What Does This Mean for Your Business?

    The direction is clear, but applicability to Upper Bavaria is limited. In practical terms: expect the same rankings to generate fewer clicks, and make visibility measurable independently of click counts. Add metrics to your reports that do not depend on clicks, such as calls through your Business Profile, requests for directions, and direct visits. Also spot-check whether your business appears as a source in AI answers at all.

    Google Removes Business Profile Posts With Unverified Contact Information

    Google may remove Business Profile posts containing unverified contact information, according to stricter wording in Google's help documentation reported by Search Engine Roundtable on September 25, 2026. Previously, the documentation said that phone numbers were not allowed. It now says that Google may remove posts with unverified contact information, specifically phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles. It also states that posts with a phone number in the description may be rejected if the number cannot be associated with the business whose profile contains the post.

    The goal is to prevent abuse. In the past, other businesses' profiles were used to divert calls to the abusers' own numbers.

    What Does This Mean for Your Business?

    This affects precisely the businesses that actively use posts: trade businesses offering emergency services, restaurants posting daily specials, and medical practices sharing appointment information. Stop putting phone numbers and email addresses in post text. Instead, use the available buttons that lead to your own website or booking page. Also check that the primary phone number listed in your profile is current, because Google uses it to establish the association.

    What You Should Do This Week

    1. 1Mark September 24, 2026, with a date marker in your SEO reporting and schedule a review for October 8, 2026, after the announced two-week window ends.
    2. 2Export the Google Search Console performance report for the last 28 days today as a reference snapshot, so you have a reliable comparison baseline after the spam update.
    3. 3In the performance report, set the new filter to the Multimodal search type and note the five pages with the most impressions. Check file names, alt text, and captions on those pages.
    4. 4Open your Google Business Profile, review the last ten posts, and remove phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles from the descriptions.
    5. 5Ask three fixed test questions about your offering in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode, and note whether your website is cited as a source. Repeat this monthly on the same day.
    6. 6Get a list of all third-party scripts on your website and remove anything without a measurable purpose. This reduces both load time and the new CrUX ad metric values.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Google launched the September 2026 Spam Update on September 24, 2026, at 9:15 a.m. Pacific time, or 6:15 p.m. in Germany. According to Search Engine Journal on September 24, 2026, Google specifies a rollout window of up to two weeks. The update applies globally and to all languages. It is the fourth spam update of 2026 and has the longest announced rollout window of the four.

    The filter separates web results into text-based and multimodal searches. According to PPC Land on September 24, 2026, multimodal search includes four entry points: Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads in Google Search, and Chrome's right-click image search feature. Impressions, position, pages, countries, and devices are available. The report does not provide search queries for this search type.

    No. Chrome for Developers explicitly states on September 15, 2026, that the four new metrics are not part of Core Web Vitals and have no recommended targets or thresholds. They are also labeled experimental. They measure the number of ads in the viewport, the share of screen area occupied by ads, data usage in bytes, and processing load in milliseconds.

    According to Search Engine Land on September 23, 2026, a ten-day field study involving 1,100 U.S. Chrome users measured an 18.8-percentage-point decline in clicks to external websites when users searched in AI Mode. News sites lost 12.5 points, and Wikipedia lost 9.9 points. The study was conducted in the United States, collected data in March 2026, and acknowledges its own limitations, including a younger sample and required rather than voluntary use.

    Only if Google can associate the number with the profile. Search Engine Roundtable reported on September 25, 2026, that Google may remove posts containing unverified contact information. This applies to phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles. Posts with a phone number in the description may be rejected. A button linking to your own website is the safer option.

    Conclusion

    This week brings one issue to manage and two new measurement points. The spam update with its two-week window calls above all for patience and a clearly documented baseline. The Multimodal filter in Search Console makes image searches visible for the first time and is the most interesting addition for businesses with photos. The CrUX ad metrics are observational data with no ranking impact. The AI Mode study provides U.S. figures that confirm an already familiar trend: visibility and clicks are diverging.

    If you want to know where your business stands after the spam update and which pages people find through image searches, explore our SEO services or contact us directly. Stroe Media GbR is an owner-managed web design and online marketing agency based in Geretsried, Bavaria, south of Munich, Germany. Changes to Google Ads are covered in our Week 39 search engine advertising article. You can find the previous SEO recap in SEO News Week 33/2026.

    Sources

    Author: Stroe Media Editorial Team, Updated: September 25, 2026

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