June 2024: Google’s spam update and the crackdown on site reputation abuse
Covers June 2024. Part of our search timeline: a month-by-month look at the changes that shaped SEO, AI search, paid ads and social media, written in November 2026 for local businesses with the benefit of hindsight.
Quick answer: Google rolled out a spam update in June 2024. It came shortly after Google started, in May, to enforce its site reputation abuse policy through manual actions. The main targets were sites hosting third-party content, such as voucher code or affiliate sections, that leaned on the host site’s authority to rank.
Looking back from November 2026, this was the month Google made clear that a strong domain is not a free pass for content that has nothing to do with the business behind it. For most trades and local service firms the risk was small, but the principle behind it still shapes how we plan content today.
What did Google change that month?
The June 2024 spam update took roughly a week to roll out. Running alongside it, Google had already begun issuing manual actions against sites that were trading on their reputation by publishing low-value content from third parties. Google said algorithmic enforcement of that policy would follow at a later date.
Who felt the impact?
Several well-known publishers saw sections such as voucher code pages lose visibility. A small electrician or roofing firm was unlikely to be running anything similar, but the takeaway applied to everyone: what sits on your domain should reflect your own expertise and serve your own customers.
Think of a heating engineer in Perth who lets a supplier publish general home improvement articles on their site in exchange for a link. That content has little to do with boilers or the local customer base, and it is exactly the kind of arrangement this policy was aimed at.
Practical steps for your website now
- Look over any partner, guest or sponsored pages and ask whether they genuinely relate to the work you do.
- Check that every page on your site is there to help customers, not only to pull in search traffic.
- Open the Manual actions report in Search Console and confirm there are no warnings.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as site reputation abuse?
It is when third-party content is published on a site mainly so it can ride on that site’s ranking strength, with little oversight from the site owner and little connection to what the site is about.
Am I allowed to keep sponsored content on my site?
Yes, as long as it is relevant, labelled clearly and genuinely useful to your visitors. Mark any paid links with rel=”sponsored”.
Sources and further reading
Want help with this? We check sites for spam policy risks as part of our local SEO service. Get in touch.
More articles
August 2025: Google’s spam update cracks down on policy breaches
Google began its August 2025 spam update on 26 August. Here is what it targeted and how a local trade business can stay well clear of spam problems.
September 2025: the reason Search Console impressions fell overnight
In September 2025 many sites saw Search Console impressions drop while average position improved. We explain why and how to read your figures now.
February 2022: Google brings page experience signals to desktop
From February 2022 Google applied page experience signals to desktop results too. What it covered and why speed and stability count on every screen.