What September spam update phase 2 means for E-commerce

If your store’s organic traffic changed around Sept. 30, there’s a reason that date is getting attention. Barry Schwartz reported renewed ranking volatility during Google’s September 2026 spam update and described it as a possible second phase.

That timing gives you somewhere to start investigating. It doesn’t establish that your site violated a spam policy, or that the update caused your decline.

For ecommerce teams, the useful work is figuring out which pages changed and what those pages do for a customer. A store can have thousands of useful pages. It can also have a growing collection of pages whose only meaningful difference is the keyword in the heading.

What phase 2 actually means

Google launched the September 2026 spam update on Sept. 24, saying it applies globally across all languages and could take up to two weeks. As of Oct. 4, Google’s dashboard still lists the update as active.

A spam update changes Google’s automated systems for detecting search spam. Schwartz reported an initial wave around Sept. 25–27 and renewed movement on Sept. 30. “Phase 2” describes that reported sequence; Google’s notice names one September update without labeling phases.

The official announcement doesn’t identify an e-commerce target or a new rule about AI content. Our recommendation to review pages created at scale comes from Google’s existing policies and the way online stores expand their catalogs. It isn’t a claim about a newly confirmed target.

Start with the pages connected to sales

Open Google Search Console and compare the affected pages with a similar period before the rollout. Match the days of the week where possible, and leave out incomplete recent data. Separate category pages from individual products, then examine buying guides and any store-location pages. A decline concentrated in one page group deserves a closer look at what those pages share.

Then check your ecommerce reporting. Did organic orders fall alongside search clicks? Losing visits to an advice article is a different business problem from losing visibility for a category that regularly drives purchases. Both can matter, but they don’t necessarily deserve the same response.

Check what else changed. A release that accidentally prevents Google from indexing products needs a technical fix. Seasonal demand can also change traffic. Google’s traffic-drop guidance covers both, so don’t let the update’s timing close the investigation too early.

Also review Search Console’s Manual Actions report. A manual action follows a human review at Google, and the report identifies those actions. An empty report doesn’t rule out a change from Google’s automated systems.

Review what your store has been publishing at scale

Google’s scaled content abuse policy concerns large amounts of content created primarily to manipulate rankings while offering little value to users. The method of production alone doesn’t determine whether the practice violates the policy.

Imagine a furniture retailer publishing separate collections for “small apartment dining tables” and “dining tables for compact homes.” If both show the same products and only the heading changes, ask what separate shopping need each page serves. That overlap deserves review; it doesn’t prove a spam violation.

We’d start by checking whether each collection offers a useful selection or information that changes a buying decision. Simply rewriting the introductory paragraph won’t create that difference.

Give the shopper something they can use

For that furniture store, a collection could identify tables that fit a defined room size and explain how much clearance to allow for chairs. The measurements need to be accurate. Now the page helps someone rule a product in or out before placing an order.

Useful information may already exist inside the business. Customer service can explain what buyers repeatedly misunderstand, while the merchandising team can verify which products suit a particular use. Bring that knowledge onto the page when it answers a real shopping question.

Google’s helpful-content guidance asks whether a page contributes original information and goes beyond simply rewriting other sources. For a retailer, our interpretation is practical: show the knowledge behind the recommendation, especially where a wrong choice could lead to a return.

Review templates and AI content on their merits

A shared layout can make a catalog easier to use. The review should focus on the purpose of the pages and the information inside that layout.

Google’s AI-content guidance describes useful applications for generative AI, including research and organizing original material. It also warns against generating many pages without adding value and explicitly calls for manual fact-checking before publication.

For example, a generated claim about a table’s weight capacity or suitability for outdoor use needs reliable product evidence. Having someone skim the copy for grammar won’t establish that either claim is true. Build that check into the publishing process before the same mistake reaches the rest of the catalog.

Product filters need their own diagnosis, too. Google’s guidance on faceted navigation explains how filter combinations can create excessive crawling and slow the discovery of useful URLs. That is a documented technical problem; filter-generated URLs alone don’t establish a spam violation.

Fix confirmed problems while the rollout continues

If you find an indexing error, correct it. If a reviewed group of pages violates Google’s spam policies, address the practice and pause further publishing from that process while it’s being corrected.

For pages showing a short-term ranking change without a clear underlying problem, avoid a blanket rewrite or removal. Google advises against radical changes to pages that are performing well when the movement is small. Keep a record of what changed so you can assess the result once the rollout settles.

Recovery also needs realistic expectations. Google says its automated systems may take months to recognize that a site now complies with spam policies. Correcting an issue doesn’t guarantee that previous rankings will return.

At Bytomiq, we’d begin with the affected pages and trace the issue back to the process that produced them. That fits our approach to the work: make the problem clear enough to act on, then stay involved while the fix is implemented.

If your store’s traffic changed during the September rollout, talk with Bytomiq about where to start the review.