The Spam Update Finishes Rolling Out
September 2025 was shaped largely by the tail end of Google’s August spam update, which completed its rollout around 22 September. For sites that had seen volatility since late August, the end of the rollout brought some clarity – ranking positions stabilised, and the impact became easier to assess.
Overall, the spam update was considered “normal” in scale – significant enough to cause noticeable movement in affected niches, but not the kind of seismic shift that a major core update produces. Sites built on genuine content and clean link profiles largely came through unaffected.
The Search Console Glitch: What Happened on 15 September
On or around 15 September 2025, many site owners noticed sudden and dramatic drops in their Google Search Console data. Impressions fell sharply. Clicks vanished. Panic spread across SEO forums and social media.
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Subscribe →Google confirmed it was a reporting glitch, not an algorithm update. No rankings had actually changed. The data shown in Search Console was simply inaccurate for a period. Google later corrected the figures.
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This was a good lesson in not over-reacting to Search Console data in isolation. Before drawing conclusions from a sharp data drop, it is always worth checking:
- Whether Google has confirmed any updates or glitches via Search Liaison
- Whether actual organic traffic in GA4 matches the Search Console drop
- Whether the drop is across all queries or isolated to specific pages
In this case, GA4 traffic was unaffected – which was the tell that something was wrong with the reporting rather than the rankings themselves.
No Core Update in September
There was no Google core update in September 2025. Google had run core updates in March and June, and with the spam update dominating August and September, the algorithm remained relatively stable outside of the spam-related changes.
With the next core update expected later in the year, September was a good time to get content in order – improving existing posts, fixing technical issues, and building topical depth ahead of the next major reassessment.
What to Focus On Between Updates
Quiet months in the update calendar are not periods to coast. They are periods to invest. The sites that tend to benefit most from core updates are those that have been consistently improving their content in the months beforehand.
Key areas worth attention in any quiet period include reviewing your highest-traffic pages for freshness, expanding thin content, improving internal linking, and ensuring your site is technically clean from a crawling and indexing perspective.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my Search Console data drop sharply on 15 September 2025?
Google confirmed this was a reporting glitch, not an algorithm update. No rankings actually changed. The data shown in Search Console was inaccurate for a period and was later corrected. The tell was that GA4 organic traffic remained unaffected throughout.
Was there a Google core update in September 2025?
No. September 2025 had no confirmed core update. The main SEO event of the month was the completion of the August 2025 spam update, which finished rolling out around 22 September.
How do I tell if a Search Console drop is a real algorithm update or a reporting error?
Cross-reference with GA4. If your actual organic sessions in GA4 are normal but Search Console impressions and clicks have dropped, it is almost certainly a reporting issue. Also check Google’s Search Status Dashboard and the Search Liaison account on X for any confirmed updates or glitches.
Related: Spam updates target low-quality links and thin content. See SEO Strategy and the guide to building E-E-A-T for long-term resilience.
Related: Spam updates target low-quality links and thin content. See SEO Strategy and the guide to building E-E-A-T for long-term resilience.
Related: Spam updates target low-quality links and thin content. See SEO Strategy and the guide to building E-E-A-T for long-term resilience.
Related: Spam updates target low-quality links and thin content. See SEO Strategy and the guide to building E-E-A-T for long-term resilience.
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