<b>Spam update or core update? Telling them apart</b>

<b>Spam update or core update? Telling them apart</b>
This week on the radar: resources that clarify which lever Google just pulled.

Confirmed
— <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies">Google's spam policies page</a> — the actual list (scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse, expired-domain abuse) that spam updates enforce via SpamBrain.
— <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/updates/ranking">Search Status Dashboard</a> — labels each update 'core' vs 'spam' explicitly.

Read this
— <a href="https://searchengineland.com">Search Engine Land</a> — breakdowns of how spam updates target specific tactics, whereas core updates re-weight relevance broadly.

The even-handed distinction: a core update reassesses quality across the board; a spam update enforces named policy violations. Recovery paths differ — spam hits need the violation removed, core hits need genuine quality lift.

One to bookmark: the spam policies page — match your traffic drop date against a spam-labeled update before assuming it's 'just a core update'.