Google says it is running more spam updates because the web is filling up with mass-produced content, and it now uses AI to catch AI-generated junk. If your website leans on thin, repetitive pages, that is a risk worth fixing before the next update lands, not after.
What Google Said
At Google's Search Central Live Deep Dive event in Barcelona, Google's Gary Illyes said the company filters out 40 billion spam pages a day. Google tied the higher update frequency to three things: more content formats beyond traditional web pages, a huge jump in the number of pages and sites, and growing spam. Its own words on the biggest shift: scaled content is now becoming more of a problem than link spam.
Google also said it evaluates quality at the page level, not the domain level, and that user feedback helps shape new spam filters.
Why This Matters for Local Businesses
Many local sites carry exactly the kind of content this targets: dozens of near-identical service pages with only the city name swapped, or blog posts churned out by an AI tool with no real local knowledge behind them. Because quality is judged page by page, a pile of weak pages can drag on you even when your best pages are solid.
Local pages that say something only your business can say are your protection against this.
The practical difference is specifics: real projects, real neighborhoods, real prices or timelines, real photos, and a named person who stands behind the work.
What to Do About It
Audit your site for near-duplicate pages, especially service or location pages that differ only by a city name.
Merge, rewrite, or remove thin pages instead of leaving them live; fewer strong pages beat many weak ones.
If you use AI to draft content, add what a tool cannot know: your actual jobs, customer questions, and local details.
Keep a publishing pace you can sustain with real substance, rather than bulk-producing posts.
Watch Search Console and your calls after each announced spam update so you spot a drop early.
Google is getting better at telling real local expertise from filler at scale. Businesses that publish less, but with genuine detail, are the ones better placed when the next update rolls out.
Further reading: Google's September Spam Update Hit Hard Over the Weekend: What Local Business Websites Should Check
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