GoogleSpam UpdateConfirmed

November 2021 spam update

Broad spam update rolled out over about a week, listed on Google's official ranking updates dashboard.

What changed

Google announced a spam update on 3 November 2021 that finished rolling out on 11 November. It targeted general web spam rather than a specific technique, and Google referred publishers to its spam policies rather than issuing separate guidance. It is one of the earliest entries recorded on Google's Search Status Dashboard.

Timing

Rollout began 3 November 2021. Google declared it complete on 11 November 2021, 8 days later. 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