Google’s spam update and weekly blogs that only rewrite the news
This one is about us first. The lazy weekly rhythm is four headlines turned into four “what this means for SMEs” posts, same outline every time. Readers feel it. Search does too.
Google started rolling the August spam update around 18 August. Search Engine Journal collected owner reports: scaled pages, thin affiliates, programmatic content. Google did not say “all AI text is spam.” What gets hit is usually the same mould, shipped at volume, with no extra truth.
We changed the openings on purpose
One piece starts in Search Console. One starts with a thumb on a phone. One starts at 9 p.m. on LINE. Sources are still the same industry posts. Each note needs a scene you have actually heard: a form nobody reads, a summary with the wrong city, a price typed twice.
We already warned against pasting other people’s news as your blog — see content credit. Add this: a fixed weekly quota becomes scaled content if nobody edits.
Ask before you hit publish
- If you strip the news date, is the piece still useful?
- Is there a sentence a customer would actually say?
- Can the source be opened?
- Does it clone last month’s post?
- Does the button go to a real page, not “learn more”?
“Still useful without the date” means this: cross out “the update started 18 August.” Can the rest help someone who arrives next month? If all that remains is “Google changed something, stay tuned,” you wrote a daily, not a note.
Have someone who knows the business read three drafts — not the writer. We ask: which one would you forward to a client? If they cannot name one, the batch waits. When a spam action lands, you take down a set, not a headline.
FAQs
Can we still cover industry news?
Yes, if you add a judgment, a scene, and a next step the buyer would ask. A retitled wire story helps nobody.
Is drafting with AI against the rules?
Google targets scaled low-value pages, not the tool name. We still edit, cite, and add a real scene before publish.
How often is safe?
There is no official cadence. One post that holds up beats five with the same skeleton.
Talk about site copy Other notes
Source: SEJ SEO Pulse (August spam update).