Google has completed the rollout of its March 2024 spam update. The spam update began on March 5, roughly 15 days ago.

The March 2024 core update is still in progress and is expected to continue for the next several weeks. The spam update took a total of 14 days and 21 hours to roll out, starting from March 5 and finishing on March 20.

This morning, Google stated, “The rollout was complete as of March 20, 2024.”

March 2024 spam update. There wasn’t anything particularly new shared by Google regarding the announcement of this spam update. On March 5, Chris Nelson from Google wrote, “Along with our new spam policies, we are also launching the March 2024 spam update today.”

Here’s the official documentation provided by Google about the spam update:

While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are continuously active, we sometimes make significant enhancements to their functionality. When such improvements occur, we refer to them as a spam update and announce them on our list of Google Search ranking updates.

For example, SpamBrain is our AI-powered system designed to prevent spam. Periodically, we enhance this system to improve its ability to identify spam and address emerging types of spam.

Websites that experience changes after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure compliance. Sites violating these policies may see reduced rankings or be excluded from results entirely. Implementing necessary changes could help a site recover over time if our automated systems determine that it now complies with our spam policies.

In the case of a link spam update (which specifically targets link-related spam), making changes might not lead to improvement. This is because when our systems neutralize the impact of spammy links, any prior ranking benefits those links offered your site are removed. These lost benefits cannot be restored.

New spam policies. As previously discussed, Google introduced three new spam policies:

• Scaled content abuse.
• Expired domain abuse.
• Site reputation abuse.

The first two were implemented immediately, while the policy on site reputation abuse will take effect in May.

Shortly after Google announced these spam policies, there was a surge in manual actions related to pure spam issues. However, these manual actions are not directly tied to the spam update itself; they result in manual penalties rather than algorithmic demotions.

Manual actions vs. algorithmic updates. It's important to understand that manual actions are carried out by human reviewers at Google. These individuals evaluate your site and decide whether it breaches any spam policy. Although some detection processes may be automated, Google classifies these actions as "manual."

Algorithmic updates (such as the March 2024 core update or spam update) operate automatically. Google does not send notifications through Google Search Console’s manual action viewer when a site is affected—positively or negatively—by an algorithm update. A website can simultaneously be impacted by both a manual action and an algorithm update.

Why we care. With the ongoing core update, the completed spam update, and recent manual actions tied to the new spam policies, Google’s search results have seen significant shifts. Since the core update isn't finished yet, Google advises patience before making any major adjustments. Wait until the core update concludes before taking drastic steps.

We’re likely to see more fluctuations connected to the core update, and it remains to be seen where your site will ultimately rank. While the March 2024 spam update has concluded, it won’t be the last spam update Google releases. Additionally, the core update is still underway, so prepare yourself—we’re not done yet.

Previous spam updates. Here’s our earlier coverage of confirmed Google spam updates:

• October 2023 spam update
• December 2022 link spam update
• October 2022 spam update
• November 2021 spam update
• July 2021 link spam update
• A two-part Spam Update – June 23 and June 28

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