Google’s August 2026 spam update hit rankings harder than normal

Google’s August 2026 spam update noticed an 82% enhance in prime 10 URLs dropping out of the highest 100 in contrast with a interval with no confirmed rating replace, in accordance with new SE Rating information.

In the course of the replace, 16.71% of URLs that had ranked in Google’s prime 10 fell past place 100 for a similar key phrase, in contrast with 9.2% throughout the same five-day interval in July. That made a prime 10 URL about 1.8 instances extra prone to disappear from the highest 100 throughout the spam replace.

By the numbers. Right here’s some information SE Rating shared with Search Engine Land:

Volatility spanned all 20 niches. The rating volatility was broad throughout the 20 industries SE Rating tracked.

• High 10 volatility ranged from 74.64% in actual property to 85.55% in trend and sweetness.
• YMYL classes, together with actual property and healthcare, had been among the many steadiest.
• The info doesn’t present whether or not specific sorts of websites, content material, or spam ways had been disproportionately affected. SE Rating didn’t conduct a URL- or domain-level evaluation of the pages that misplaced rankings or the pages that changed them.

Why we care. Shifting from Google’s prime 10 to past place 100 is a large rating loss in comparison with day-to-day search volatility. The 82% enhance signifies how disruptive the August 2026 spam replace was in contrast with Google’s regular search churn.

In regards to the information. SE Rating analyzed U.S. natural Google outcomes for a similar 100,000 key phrases throughout 20 industries. It in contrast rankings from Aug. 17 and Aug. 22, instantly earlier than and after the spam replace, with a baseline comparability of July 26 and July 31, when Google had no confirmed rating replace. SE Rating solely tracked positions 1 by 100, so the information doesn’t present whether or not the URLs that disappeared had been deindexed or just fell beneath place 100. It additionally doesn’t clarify why these specific pages misplaced their rankings.