Google rankings all over the place? Here’s what’s happening (September Spam Update)

Seeing a keyword rank one day and disappear from the top 100 the next? You’re not alone.
Google began rolling out its September 2026 spam update on September 24. It affects all languages worldwide, and Google says it may take up to two weeks to complete. That’s a longer estimated window than for its recent spam updates, although it could finish sooner.
While it’s rolling out, we’re seeing some searches return very different results from one check to the next.

A site can appear on page one for example (or any other page), then be absent from the top 100 on a later search. In PRT, that shows up as a drop to “not ranked” and perhaps a jump back. It doesn’t necessarily mean your site has permanently lost its ranking.

This kind of movement doesn’t mean the tracking is inaccurate.
ProRankTracker reports the results Google returns for each daily specific check.

This is when reliable rank tracking really matters.
ProRankTracker invests in thorough daily checks and carefully tuned ranking detection to give you a fresh picture of what Google is showing. If results are jumping around, you’ll see it. And when they settle, you’ll see that too.

 

Our advice: keep watching the trend, check your Search Console data, and review Google’s spam policies for anything on your site that needs attention. Once the rollout finishes and results settle, you’ll be in a much better position to assess what changed.
We saw rankings stabilize after a previous update a couple of months ago, but it’s too early to say how individual sites will fare this time.

 

You can follow Google’s rollout status and read its guidance on spam updates. Search Engine Journal also has a short overview.