Google’s August 2025 Spam Update Explained

On Tuesday 26^th August, Google started rolling out their latest algorithm update, the August 2025 Spam Update.

This is the first spam-related update we’ve seen since the December 2024 Spam Update, and the first spam update of 2025.

When updates like this are released, monitoring your search performance and staying aligned with Google’s spam policies is incredibly important.

To help you do this, we’ve recapped everything you need to know about Google’s spam policies, how to ensure you’re following them, and what to do if your website is affected by the August 2025 Spam Update.

Let’s start by looking at what spam updates are and what the August 2025 Spam Update is focused on…👇

What is the August 2025 Spam Update?

Google’s spam updates are designed to improve the quality of search results by tackling practices that aim to manipulate rankings unfairly.

This August 2025 Spam Update is part of Google’s constant efforts to keep spam out of search results and improve the quality of results shown to their users.

Unlike core updates, like the recent June 2025 Core Update, which broadly assess the relevance and quality of content, spam updates specifically focus on removing or demoting pages that breach Google’s spam policies.

As with most updates, Google hasn’t released many details on what’s being targeted. But they have said that this is a normal spam update rolling out for all languages and locations, and it could take a couple of weeks to roll out and settle.

Based on that information, we can assume there won’t be any massive changes to Google’s spam policies in this update, but rather some general tweaks to their systems and signals that identify and penalise websites using spammy practices.

Why Does The August 2025 Spam Update Matter?

If your site is following best practices and hasn’t been trying to trick search engines, you’re unlikely to be impacted by the August 2025 Spam Update.

But if you rely on manipulative SEO tactics, such as scraped content, link schemes, or cloaked redirects, your rankings could plummet massively.

With these updates, the real importance lies in quality and trust. Even if you’re playing by the rules, updates like this remind us that Google is actively working to raise the quality bar.

The sites that thrive long-term are those that maintain trust and credibility and actively focus on quality content and user experiences.

A Recap of Google’s Spam Policies

Google’s spam policies are designed to serve as a clear guide on what not to do with your SEO. These policies cover banned tactics and behaviours that deceive users and manipulate search results.

Here’s a quick overview of some of these forbidden tactics and practices:

• Cloaking and sneaky redirects: Showing one version of content to Google and another to users
• Thin or scraped content: Low-value pages copied or lightly reworded from other sources
• Link spam: Schemes involving buying unnatural backlinks to manipulate rankings
• Hidden text and keyword stuffing: Overloading a page with keywords or hiding them from users to influence rankings
• Malware or phishing: Harmful practices aimed at infecting devices with viruses or exploiting and defrauding users

You can read more about these banned practices in Google’s spam policy documentation.

How to Follow Google’s Spam Policies

Keeping your website and SEO strategy aligned with Google’s spam policies isn’t a one-time tick-box exercise. You should aim to build long-term processes that protect your site from accidental violations.

Here are practical steps from our SEO specialists on staying compliant:

1. Focus on Original, Useful Content

Every page should serve a clear purpose for the user. Avoid copying existing content, even if rewritten, and make sure your pages add value by answering real questions, providing depth, or offering insights.

2. Review Your Backlinks Regularly

Unnatural link practices are one of the most common causes of spam penalties.

Regularly audit your backlinks to identify and remove (or disavow) low-quality, irrelevant links from deindexed websites or link farms. Prioritise links earned through genuine mentions, PR coverage, or valuable resources you’ve created.

3. Keep Technical Practices Clean

Cloaking, hidden text, and sneaky redirects are easy traps to fall into if you’re not paying attention. Always make sure that what Google’s bots and crawlers see is the same as what your users see.

4. Avoid Misleading Tactics

Don’t use structured data to exaggerate your content, and don’t serve different versions of a page depending on device or location unless it’s genuinely for usability or language variations.

5. Build a Culture of Compliance

If you work with agencies, freelancers, or internal teams, ensure everyone understands Google’s spam policies and what’s acceptable.

If one person on your team starts taking shortcuts with your SEO, your site could end up being penalised during updates like this.

Monitoring the August 2025 Spam Update

As the rollout of the August 2025 Spam Update will take a few weeks to complete, it’s important to monitor your search performance data to see if your website is being affected.

You should also monitor this 3 – 4 weeks after the update has finished rolling out, as these updates can cause some ranking volatility as Google’s algorithm changes how it ranks content.

Here are a few tools and metrics you should monitor as the update rolls out:

• Use Google Search Console to track organic impressions, clicks, and average positions to identify any sudden ranking drops or gains
• Use Google Analytics to monitor your organic traffic levels and landing page performance
• Monitor your indexed pages in Google Search Console to ensure no important pages are mistakenly dropped from Google’s index

What to Do if You’re Affected by the August 2025 Spam Update

If you notice any sudden drops in impressions, traffic, and rankings following the August 2025 Spam Update, there’s no need to panic.

Just review your website and SEO strategy and compare it with Google’s spam policies to make sure everything is aligned.

So, if you’ve been impacted, follow these steps:

1. Audit your content and remove low-value or duplicate pages
2. Review your backlink profile and remove suspicious links
3. Cleaning up any technical issues, like cloaking or misleading redirects
4. Submit appeal requests if you’ve received a manual action penalty in Google Search Console

It’s important to make changes and fixes quickly but carefully. If you make reactive, sweeping changes across your website without taking the time to understand why it has been impacted, you could do more harm than good!

Want Our Specialists to Help You Meet Google’s Spam Policies?

If you’re concerned about how this update has affected your website or want expert guidance and support on following Google’s spam policies, our SEO specialists at Damteq can help you create a clear SEO strategy rooted in best practices to help you recover and improve your SEO performance.

Ready to speak with a specialist? Get in touch