Google's SpamBrain update: How the algorithm affects your site
Kannan Gophal
Digital Marketing Consultant and Trainer ◇ B2B Marketing Strategist ◇ Certified ABX Strategist ◇ CRO Expert ◇ Marketing Measurement Specialist ◇ AI Enthusiast
Google's SpamBrain spam detection algorithm is designed to identify and flag spammy websites. The algorithm looks at several factors to determine whether or not a site is spammy, such as the quality of the content, the number of outgoing links, and many more. Whether your site is affected by this algorithm depends on several factors. Here's what we currently know about the SpamBrain and its most recent update dated December 14, 2022.
What exactly is SpamBrain?
Google is constantly changing and updating its algorithms. In 2018, the company first launched SpamBrain, an AI-based spam prevention system. The algorithm has 1 goal, namely to detect and penalize spammy sites on the internet. Google started rolling out a new SpamBrain update on December 14, 2022. In addition to detecting untrustworthy sites directly, the algorithm can now detect sites that buy links and sites that are used to sell links.
This is what we know about the Google December 2022 link spam update
Google is launching the update under the name “ Google December 2022 Link Spam Update ” and began rolling out on December 14, 2022. This is the first time Google has used SpamBrain to detect unnatural links. The full implementation will take two weeks.
Both websites that buy and sell links will be negatively impacted. Unnatural links that get on the algorithm's radar will be neutralized and lose their value, which can have a negative impact on a site's rankings. All websites can be checked, regardless of the language in which the content is written.
Is it necessary to disavow spam links?
John Mueller , a Google employee answered this question on Twitter:
There is no need to disavow spammy links pointing to your site . Google has already indicated in the past that these types of links do not negatively affect your rankings, as long as you have not built them yourself. Google “neutralises” the link, which means they no longer count the link and no more link value is passed to your site. If you have a lot of these inbound links, you can expect a drop in rankings and search traffic.
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Will I get a warning if my site is targeted?
John Mueller also emphasizes the following:
If a spammy link is neutralized, you will not receive a notification in Google Search Console. It is not a manual action. If you're suddenly seeing a significant drop in your search traffic and you've used blackhat SEO link building tactics before, it's likely the result of the SpamBrain update.
Why is Google launching this update?
External links are an important ranking factor for search engines. Google sees every external link as a sign of trust. The more quality and reliable links a website has, the more trust Google will have in the website. This then results in higher rankings. Naturally getting links is very difficult, which is why many sites have started link building. This literally means building links, for example by publishing guest blogs on other sites. Today, there are many companies that buy external links and in this way manipulate the search engines in some way. With this Google December 2022 Link Spam Update, Google wants to penalize sites that actively sell and buy links.
Google's guidelines
If you manage a website, it's important to make sure you comply with Google's policies regarding external links. Here's what you need to know about Google's external link policy:
It is not yet entirely clear how big the impact will be on the rankings of a website. We'll get a better picture of that once the update is fully rolled out.
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