Google spam update recovery:Find the cause first,then fix what matters

Where does Google spam update recovery start once the rollout is over?

Google spam update recovery comes down to a single question: did a person at Google take action against your site, or did the automated systems simply reassess it? Google detects spam policy violations both ways, through automated systems and, where needed, through human review that can end in a manual action. On a traffic chart the two cases look much the same, yet the way back is completely different.

The timing is now clear. According to Google's Search Status Dashboard, the September 2026 spam update began on 24 September and was complete on 8 October, roughly the two weeks Google had announced. Our piece on the Google spam update covers what happened during the rollout; this article picks up where that one ends, with what to do if your numbers really have dropped.

Google gives every site that sees a change after a spam update the same advice: review the spam policies and check that your pages comply. That sounds obvious, and it is the core of the matter. It also means that waiting alone will not bring a site back if there really is a violation, because then there is nothing new for the systems to learn.

What does Search Console show about a traffic drop after a spam update?

For a traffic drop after a spam update, the Performance report in Search Console is your main source once you know there is no manual action. Google recommends comparing the drop period with a similar earlier period and with the same period a year before, so that a seasonal dip is not mistaken for a demotion. The update's start and end dates are on the Search Status Dashboard, which in practice means comparing the time before 24 September with the time after 8 October.

Which pages lost matters most. If a page slips from position two to four, Google calls that a small drop that does not call for drastic changes. If it falls far down the results, check exactly those pages or directories against the spam policies. When only one group of pages loses, automatically generated location pages for example, you have usually found the most likely candidate.

One caveat matters more than any other here: Google does not publish which patterns a given spam update targets, and it has not said so for the September update either. Linking a drop to a specific policy therefore remains an informed guess that you need to test against your own pages.

How do you file a reconsideration request to lift a manual action?

You can only file a reconsideration request when there is a manual action or a security issue, since it is essentially a request for Google to review the site again after you have fixed the problem. To lift a manual action, first fix the issue on all affected pages, then select Request review in the Manual actions report. In the request itself you describe what you have fixed.

One technical detail is easy to overlook: Google has to be able to reach the fixed pages, so they should not sit behind a login or a paywall and should not be blocked by robots.txt or a noindex rule. You can check this with the URL Inspection tool, which we explain in our article on how to request indexing in Google (the term is also in our glossary under Google indexing).

After you submit, Google confirms receipt by email and writes again once the review is complete. In the meantime it is worth keeping an eye on the affected area so that the same issue does not reappear elsewhere.

What recovery time after a spam update can you realistically expect?

Google gives no fixed recovery time after a spam update, and anyone who promises one claims more than Google has published. Two ranges are documented. For a reconsideration request Google cites several days or weeks, with link related requests possibly taking longer, and for algorithmic demotions it only says that rankings may improve once the automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies.

On improvements in general, Google also writes that some changes take effect within a few days while others take several months. So if you clean up in October and see no movement by November, you have not necessarily done anything wrong (although you cannot be sure until something moves). We would recommend keeping a short log of which pages you changed and when, so that any later movement can be traced back at all.