The Google spam update began on September 24, 2026. It affects all languages and countries; its rollout can take up to two weeks. During this period, a daily drop in traffic for a shop does not prove that the catalog has been penalized. First, check the official status of the rollout.
Create a view by product family
In Search Console, separate major categories, product pages, and articles. Export clicks, impressions, and queries over periods of equal duration. Also note promotions, stockouts, price changes, theme updates, and closure days. A drop in searches for a seasonal family does not tell the same story as a category that has turned into a 404.
Do not just look at the store's total. A single very popular category can mask stability in the rest of the site. Conversely, a drop in clicks with stable impressions may stem from a change in the offer or presentation in the results. Write down your hypothesis next to the numbers, without treating it as proof.
Check five URLs before rewriting
- Open two important categories, two product pages, and one article that have had traffic changes.
- Check their 200 status, their canonical tags, their presence in internal links, and their indexability.
- Verify that the price, availability, and variants are correct on the page.
- Compare the lost queries, country by country.
- Return to the same sample after the rollout ends.
If an important URL returns an error or if a theme has removed its links, fix this identified problem immediately. For visibility changes without obvious defects, wait for more stable data. Google's guide on traffic drops reminds us that technical issues, seasonality, and demand can also explain a variation.
What to do after the diagnosis?
Classify each affected page: technical incident, missing product information, offer that has become less relevant, or simple variation to monitor. Make a correction related to the verified cause. Rewriting all descriptions or increasing keywords during the rollout would make comparison impossible and could impoverish useful product pages.
To conduct this check with a sample and evidence, the guide Audit and Fix Your Website is offered by DIY Marketing Guide. Check its content and price on the product page.
