December 2024 Spam Update
A spam update enforcing Google's spam policies, rolling out immediately after the December 2024 core update finished.
Spam update
Dec 19, 2024
Dec 26, 2024
7 days
Overview
What the December 2024 Spam Update did
The December 2024 Spam Update launched the day after the December 2024 core update completed, capping an exceptionally busy month with two November/December core updates plus this spam rollout. Spam updates enforce Google's spam policies via systems like SpamBrain, targeting violations rather than reassessing quality. Sites following Google's guidelines were generally unaffected.
Key points
What changed
- Enforcement against scaled content abuse, expired-domain abuse and link spam.
- Launched directly after the December 2024 core update.
- Targeted violations, not general content quality.
What to do about it
How to respond
- 1
Separate spam-update impact (Dec 19–26) from the preceding core update (Dec 12–18).
- 2
Remove any guideline-violating tactics if you were hit.
- 3
Keep link profiles clean and avoid manipulative content at scale.
Sources
Where this is confirmed
Did the December 2024 Spam Update move your rankings?
Indexly tracks SERP volatility, ranking shifts and traffic impact for every Google core and spam update — so you can see exactly which pages this rollout touched.