Google’s Latest Update and the New Search Console Tools

Search Engine Journal reports that Google has started rolling out its September 2026 spam update, and this time the rollout window is up to two weeks. That is longer than any spam update Google has issued this year, which means site owners may see ranking changes over a longer period. The same week, Google also added a new filter in Search Console to show traffic from image-based searches like Google Lens or Circle to Search.

These changes matter because they show how Google is handling two big trends: cleaning up junk results and adapting to how people now search with pictures instead of text. For anyone running a website, knowing when an update starts and ends is crucial. If you see a traffic dip, you need to check the dates carefully to understand if it was caused by this update or something else entirely.

What These Changes Mean for Your Search Rankings Strategy

The bigger story here is that Google is becoming less predictable. With a two-week spam update window, there is no quick fix if your rankings slip. You cannot just wait a day and hope things recover. Instead, you need to look at your site's health over a longer period and focus on clean, useful content that follows Google's spam policies.

AI is changing the game from both sides. Google is using AI to spot spam and to power new search features like AI Mode, which is a conversational way to ask questions. Recent research reported on by Search Engine Journal found that people using AI Mode clicked through to websites far less often. This tells us that traditional search results are not guaranteed to bring traffic forever. Businesses must now track data in Search Console more carefully, especially the new image search filter, to understand where their visitors actually come from.

What This Means for Australian SMBs

For small and mid-sized businesses in Australia, these updates are a warning to build a strong online presence that does not rely on one kind of traffic. The longer spam rollout means a competitor could lose rankings at any time, but it also means you could lose rankings too, even if you did not do anything wrong. The new image search data is a great opportunity for local stores and trades that showcase photos of their work, as it shows how people find you using images.

The shift toward image and AI searches is important for Australian firms because customers often use their phones to find local services. If your product photos or service images are not clear and well-labelled, you could miss out on this new traffic source. Checking your Search Console data regularly is now a daily task, not a monthly one.

What You Can Do Now

  • Log into Google Search Console and set a custom date range to compare your traffic before and after September 24, when the spam update began.
  • Apply the new image search filter to your Performance report to see which product pages people reach with image searches, then improve those pages with better titles and descriptions.
  • Run Google's free spam policy check on your site to ensure you have no low-value or copied content that could be targeted by the update.
  • Use Search Console's URL inspection tool to test your most important pages, just like Google's John Mueller suggests, and fix any broken pages before Googlebot finds them.
  • Build direct traffic through email newsletters and customer relationships so you are not completely dependent on Google search for new leads.

Staying on top of these shifts takes time, and that is where MS&VG can help Australian businesses with AI-powered SEO services that turn confusing Search Console data into a clear action plan for better search rankings.