If you manage a website and noticed impressions dip sometime between September 23 and 28, you are not imagining it. We saw the same pattern across several client sites we manage, and the timing lines up with a confirmed Google update, not a coincidence.
The September 2026 Spam Update
Google began rolling out its September 2026 Spam Update on September 24, with the rollout expected to take around two weeks. Volatility was especially high between September 25 and 27, which matches the dip many of us noticed. This is the fourth confirmed spam update of 2026, following updates in March, June, and August, and it is rolling out globally across every language, not just in Canada.
Since the rollout is global, a dip on a Canadian site is not necessarily a Canadian issue. If you manage sites outside Canada too, it is worth checking whether they show the same pattern around the same dates.
Counting two weeks from September 24 puts the end of the rollout around October 8, so the numbers you are seeing right now may still shift before things settle.
Other Factors That Could Be Stacking
A few other things may be adding to what you are seeing, separate from the spam update itself:
- Earlier volatility: Odd ranking movement was already being reported between September 4 and 12, with a bigger shift noted around September 15. If impressions were sliding before the 25th, these effects could be layering on top of each other.
- AI Overviews and SERP layout changes: Some sources point to AI features shifting click and impression patterns generally, though this has not been confirmed by Google as the cause for this specific window.
- Search Console reporting quirks: Google has had logging issues this year, including one that reduced impressions in the Generative AI and Discover reports starting August 13, 2026. We have not seen anything specific tied to September 25 to 27, but it is worth checking Google’s Search Console data anomalies page just to rule this out.
- Year-over-year comparisons: The num=100 parameter change happened in September 2025, so it should not affect this month directly, but it may inflate last year’s baseline if you are comparing year over year.
How to Tell Whether It Is a Real Loss
Before changing anything, it helps to confirm what you are actually dealing with:
- Compare clicks, not just impressions. If clicks and your GA4 organic sessions held steady, this is more likely a reporting or layout change. If they dropped too, a ranking loss is more likely.
- Split the data by device, query, and page. Use the Compare feature in Search Console, such as September 18 to 24 against September 25 to October 1, to see exactly which pages or queries lost impressions.
- Check your average position. A stable position with falling impressions points to a data or layout issue. A worsening position points to an actual ranking hit.
- Look at what lost visibility. Spam updates tend to target thin or mass-produced content, AI-generated pages with no real oversight, expired-domain abuse, and manipulative link patterns. If the affected pages share any of these traits, that is a strong lead worth following.
What Should I Do to Maintain Clicks and Impressions
The most important step right now is patience. Rewriting content or disavowing links before the rollout finishes can do more harm than good, since you might end up reacting to numbers that have not settled yet.
While you wait, focus on:
- Monitoring clicks and position daily rather than reacting to impressions alone
- Documenting which pages and queries moved, so you have a clear before-and-after picture once the rollout settles
- Reviewing any content on your site now, so you are ready to act with real data once it is safe to make changes
- Holding off on disavowing links or deleting pages until October 8 has passed and the data has had time to stabilize
Keeping an Eye on This Together
Spam updates are confirmed, global, and temporary in how long they take to roll out, but the data they leave behind takes patience to read correctly. At Bluedot Marketing, we are tracking this rollout closely across the sites we manage and will keep watching the numbers as they settle.
Reach out to our team today if you want a second set of eyes on your Search Console data before making any changes.
