Google has completed another major update to its search algorithm, and businesses could be seeing changes in their website traffic, search visibility and online enquiries. But what exactly has changed, and what should you do if your website has been affected?
On 8 October 2026, Google confirmed that its latest spam update had finished rolling out, almost two weeks after it began on 24 September.
Unlike several earlier updates this year, which were completed within a matter of days, September's update took nearly the full two-week period. During that time, SEO professionals reported considerable fluctuations in search rankings, with some websites experiencing significant changes in visibility.
For business owners who rely on Google to generate enquiries, leads and sales, this raises an important question: is your website still performing as well as it should?
What Was Google's September 2026 Spam Update?
Google regularly updates its search systems to improve the quality and relevance of the results people see.
Spam updates are specifically designed to improve Google's ability to identify websites that use practices which violate its search policies, potentially gaining an unfair advantage over websites that provide genuinely useful content.
These practices can include producing large volumes of low-value content primarily to manipulate rankings, using misleading website techniques or attempting to artificially influence search visibility.
Google uses sophisticated automated systems, including its AI-powered SpamBrain technology, to identify these behaviours.
The September update was applied globally and across all languages. However, Google has not disclosed precisely which spam detection capabilities were improved.
This is an important distinction. While the update is intended to tackle spam, it would be wrong to assume that every website experiencing a ranking decline has been penalised or has done something wrong.
Why Is Google Making These Changes?
Google's business depends on people trusting its search results.
If users consistently encounter irrelevant, misleading or poor-quality websites, that trust is undermined.
When content is created primarily to attract search traffic without providing meaningful value to the people reading it, there is a problem.
Google's policies specifically address scaled content abuse, regardless of whether the content is produced by AI, humans or a combination of the two.
For businesses, the underlying message is straightforward: creating content that genuinely helps your customers is a more sustainable strategy than simply producing more content to attract search engines.
This is particularly relevant to B2B organisations, where technical knowledge, industry expertise and the ability to demonstrate credibility can make the difference between attracting a visitor and winning a new customer.
What If Your Organic Traffic or Enquiries Start to Fall?
One of the difficulties with major Google updates is separating genuine changes in search performance from normal fluctuations.
During the September rollout, some third-party SEO tracking platforms reported dramatic ranking changes that were not necessarily reflected in actual Google search results.
Consequently, businesses should avoid making major changes to their websites based solely on a sudden drop in a ranking report.
Instead, we recommend taking a measured, evidence-led approach.
Check whether your organic traffic has genuinely declined.
Google Search Console provides information about how often your website appears in search results, how many people click through and which searches generate that traffic.
Compare performance before, during and after the update, looking for sustained changes rather than isolated daily fluctuations.
Establish which pages and search terms have been affected.
A decline in traffic across your entire website may suggest something different from a drop affecting just a handful of pages.
Understanding whether important product pages, service pages or informational articles have lost visibility helps identify where further investigation is needed.
Look at enquiries, not just visitor numbers.
Traffic is important, but for most businesses, generating qualified enquiries is the real objective.
If your website has lost 15% of its organic visitors but enquiries remain consistent, the commercial impact may be limited.
Conversely, a relatively small reduction in traffic to a high-performing service page could have a disproportionate effect on new business.
This is why SEO performance should always be assessed alongside conversion data.
Review the quality and usefulness of your content.
Does your website demonstrate genuine expertise? Are your service pages informative and distinctive? Do they answer the questions prospective customers are asking?
Businesses should also review content that has been created in large quantities, particularly where pages are repetitive, offer little original information or exist primarily to target variations of search terms.
The objective should not be to remove content indiscriminately, but to improve the overall usefulness of the website.
Check for technical problems and other possible causes.
Not every traffic decline is related to an algorithm update.
Changes to website structure, indexing issues, broken redirects, tracking problems, seasonal demand and competitor activity can all influence performance.
A proper SEO investigation should consider these possibilities before attributing a decline to Google's latest update.
Don't Panic, but Don't Ignore the Warning Signs
Google has indicated that recovery from spam-related ranking declines can take months, even after a website has addressed the underlying issues.
That makes it particularly important to understand the problem before making changes.
The temptation may be to rewrite large amounts of content, remove pages or completely rethink your SEO strategy. However, without reliable evidence, these actions could make matters worse.
Equally, ignoring a sustained decline in organic visibility could mean losing valuable enquiries to competitors.
The sensible approach is to establish what has changed, investigate why it has happened and develop a clear plan based on the findings.
Concerned About Your Website's Google Performance? Talk to BBI Brandboost.
If you've noticed a reduction in organic traffic, fewer website enquiries or unexpected changes in your Google rankings, it's worth investigating before the problem becomes more serious.
BBI Brandboost has over 25 years' experience helping businesses improve their online visibility and generate new business through effective digital marketing.
Our SEO specialists can analyse your website's performance, investigate potential causes of traffic declines and identify practical opportunities to improve your search presence.
Whether your website has been affected by Google's latest update or you're simply not getting the enquiries you should, we can help you understand what's happening and what to do next.
Don't leave your search visibility and new business enquiries to chance. Contact BBI Brandboost to discuss your website's SEO performance and how we can help.