Google’s August 2025 Spam Update Complete: What It Means

September 22, 2025

3 Minute Read

Google August 2025 Spam Update Completed

Google has confirmed that the August 2025 Spam Update has finished rolling out globally. The update began on August 26 and completed on September 22, 2025, lasting just under 27 days.

This was the first spam update of 2025 and applied worldwide across all languages.

What This Update Targeted

Spam updates are designed to improve Google’s automated spam-prevention systems, including its AI-powered tool, SpamBrain. These updates don’t re-rank the entire index, but instead remove or demote pages identified as spammy.

While some impacted sites saw visibility drop quickly—sometimes within 24 hours of the rollout—third-party tracking suggests the overall impact was muted, with limited broad re-ranking. In other words, most sites should not have seen drastic changes, though non-compliant sites may have been hit hard.

For deeper background, see our earlier blog: Google’s August 2025 Spam Update: What You Need to Know.

What Site Owners Should Do

If you noticed declines during the rollout window, Google recommends:

Reviewing Google's spam policies to ensure full compliance.
Cleaning up thin content, manipulative links, or deceptive practices.
Being patient: Once fixes are made, Google’s systems may take weeks or months to re-evaluate your site.

Since this was an enforcement-driven update, recovery won’t come from “quick fixes.” The path forward is aligning with Google’s guidelines and focusing on sustainable, high-quality SEO.

Why It Matters

Spam updates remind us that SEO success depends on long-term best practices, not shortcuts. Google’s systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and each update raises the bar for what it considers trustworthy content.

If your site experienced traffic loss or volatility, it’s a signal to act now. And if your site remained stable, that’s confirmation your SEO strategy is built on solid ground.

Next Step: Reach out to the Be Found Online's SEO team if you’d like a post-update audit. We’ll help identify risks, clean up issues, and ensure your site is positioned for long-term success.

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