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Google Is Updating Spam and Showing Us Visual Search Data

Writer: Kasi Drummer
Kasi Drummer
Sep 25
4 min read

September 19–25, 2026



Two things changed on Google this week, and one of them is exciting for artists.


The first is a spam update, which sounds scary but mostly asks you to sit still for a couple of weeks. The second is a new filter in Google Search Console that shows you traffic from people searching with a picture instead of words. If you sell art online, that second one is worth ten minutes of your time this week.


Let's go through both.


The Google September 2026 Spam Update

Google started rolling out its September 2026 spam update on September 24. Here's what we know:


  • It's the fourth spam update of 2026.

  • The rollout could take up to two weeks. That makes it Google's longest spam update rollout so far.

  • It applies everywhere, in every country and every language.

  • It targets spam policy violations in general, not just spammy links.


Ranking trackers picked up a spike in movement starting September 23, and Search Engine Roundtable confirmed that was tied to this update, not a separate core update.


What this means for your art website

For most artists, nothing. Spam updates go after sites that break Google's spam policies, things like pages stuffed with keywords, copied or mass-produced content, hidden text, or pages made only to trick search engines. If you're writing your own artist statements, describing your own work and blogging about your own process, you're not who this update is looking for.


But you might still see your traffic move around while it rolls out. That's normal. When Google shifts which sites rank, everyone near them moves a little too.


What to do (and not do) right now

  1. Don't change your website in a panic. If you rewrite pages mid-rollout, you'll never know whether the update or your edits caused what happened next. Wait until Google says the rollout is done.

  2. Write down today's numbers. Open Search Console and note your clicks and impressions for the last 28 days. That's your "before" picture.

  3. Check again after the rollout finishes. Compare the two. If you dropped hard and stayed down, then it's time to look closer at your pages.

  4. Do a quick honesty check on your content. Are any of your pages mostly keywords with not much real information? Did you ever paste in product descriptions from somewhere else? Those are the pages to fix, calmly, after the rollout.


New in Search Console: Multimodal Search Reporting

This is the one I want you to pay attention to.


Google added a new filter to the Performance report in Search Console that separates out traffic from image-based searches. That includes:


  • Google Lens

  • Circle to Search on phones

  • Image uploads to Google

  • Chrome's "Search this image" option


Google calls this "multimodal" search, which just means someone searched with something other than typed words.


One catch: you won't see search terms for this traffic. There aren't any. The person searched with a photo, so there's no typed phrase to report. You'll see clicks and impressions, and which of your pages showed up.


Why this matters so much for artists

Think about how people actually find art in real life. Someone sees a painting at a coffee shop, a print on a friend's wall, or a piece on a stranger's Instagram story. They don't know your name. So what do they do? They point their phone at it and search.


Until now, you had no clear way to see whether that was happening or where those people ended up. Now you can. If someone photographs your work and lands on your website, this filter is where that shows up.


And if it isn't showing up, that tells you something too. It might mean your artwork images aren't on your site in a way Google can connect to your work.


How to check your image search traffic

  1. Log in to Google Search Console.

  2. Open the Performance report.

  3. Look at the search type options and choose the new multimodal option.

  4. Set the date range as wide as you can.

  5. Look at which pages show up. Are they your artwork pages? Your shop? Your homepage?


How to help Google match photos of your art to your website

You can't control who photographs your work, but you can make it easier for Google to connect that photo back to you:


  • Put your artwork on your own website, not just on social media. Google can't send people to your site if the image only lives on Instagram.

  • Give each piece its own page with a clear image, the title and a real description.

  • Name your image files with the artwork title and your name, not "IMG_4829.jpg."

  • Write alt text that describes the piece the way you'd describe it to someone who can't see it.

  • Use the same images everywhere. When the photo on your website matches what people see in person and on social, it's easier to match.


The Bottom Line

The spam update is a wait-and-watch week. Write down your numbers, leave your site alone and check back once the rollout is done.


The Search Console filter is the one to act on. Go look at it this week. For a lot of artists, it's the first time you'll be able to see whether people who love your work in person can actually find you online.


I'm curious what you find, so tell me what showed up in your filter.



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