Google Spam Policies: Questions Answered
What Google counts as spam, how its spam updates work, whether AI content or duplicate content gets penalised, and how to check whether your site has been flagged.
Each answer below gives the short version first. Open the full article for the steps, the reasons and the official sources.
5 questions on Google Spam Policies
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Is hidden content against Google's spam policy? Accordions, tabs and FAQ schema | It depends on why it is hidden. Content hidden to trick search engines, such as white text on a white background or text with a font size of zero, is spam. Content hidden to make the page easier to use, such as accordions and tabs that people can open, is fine. |
| What is scaled content abuse, and does Google penalise AI content in 2026? | Scaled content abuse is Google's spam policy against producing many pages mainly to manipulate search rankings rather than help people. Google does not penalise content simply because AI wrote it. It targets low-value content at scale whether it comes from automation, humans or both, and its guidance says AI content must still be fact-checked and add value. |
| When was the last Google spam update, and how can I tell if it hit my site? | The most recent spam update on Google's Search Status Dashboard is the September 2026 spam update. It started on 24 September 2026 and Google confirmed the rollout was complete on 8 October 2026. To see whether it hit you, compare your Search Console traffic before and after those dates and check the Manual actions report. |
| Can Google penalise you for duplicate content? | Not for normal duplicate content. Google says duplicate content on your own site is not a violation of its spam policies and will not cause a manual action. Google simply picks one version to show. Copying content from other sites without adding value is different: that falls under the scraping spam policy and can be penalised. |
| What does it mean to be flagged by Google, and how can I check a website's reputation? | Being flagged by Google usually means its Safe Browsing system or Search has marked a site as dangerous, deceptive or hacked, so visitors see a warning. Anyone can check a site with Google's Safe Browsing site status tool. Site owners should also check the Security issues and Manual actions reports in Search Console. |