Payday Loan update

What changed

Rather than applying broadly, this update focused on query spaces where aggressive spam was concentrated, including short-term loans, pharmaceuticals, gambling and pornographic queries. Google described it as affecting about 0.3% of US queries but much larger proportions in some other markets. Two further versions followed in May and June 2014, the second of which extended the approach to spammy queries as well as spammy sites.

Timing

Rollout began 11 June 2013. No completion date was announced. Rankings typically remain unstable for the whole rollout window, so measurements taken inside it are not a reliable read on the outcome.

What it affected