September 2026 Google Webmaster Report

Google's August 2026 spam update ran from August 18 to August 21, and the company updated its site reputation abuse policy to exempt searchers in the EEA. Google also began pushing AI Mode into AI Overviews, partially powered by Gemini 3.7 Flash, and introduced new 'goto' URL parameters for search result URLs. The company made AI leadership changes and expanded Search Console's generative AI reports.

It is time for the monthly Google webmaster report, where I recap the larger stories from the past month, specifically related to Google SEO, search, and webmaster/site owner topics. If you took a vacation, some days off, or if you just want to make sure you didn't miss anything important on this topic, keep reading. This month we had the Google August 2026 spam update https://www.seroundtable.com/google-august-2026-spam-update-41895.html that started on August 18th and completed on August 21st. We had unconfirmed updates before and after the spam update as well. Google also updated its site reputation abuse policy to not impact searchers in the EEA https://www.seroundtable.com/google-site-reputation-policy-eea-41968.html , which is weird but legal. Google also spoke about when/why it announces search updates, which sums up the past month pretty nicely. Google started to push AI Mode into AI Overviews https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overviews-push-ai-mode-responses-41974.html within Google Search, which is pretty wild. Google AI Mode can now show link carousel cards https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-mode-link-carousels-41947.html for developing stories. Google tested AI-generated images in AI Overviews https://www.seroundtable.com/ai-generated-images-google-ai-overviews-41872.html but paused the test shortly after. Google AI Mode is partially powered by Gemini 3.7 Flash https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-gemini-3-7-flash-41879.html . Google Search is rolling out new goto URL parameters https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-goto-tracking-41957.html for search result URLs to "protect" its search results for third-party tools, probably mostly SerpAPI which Google is still fighting https://www.seroundtable.com/google-amends-lawsuit-against-serpapi-41860.html in court. - don't worry, the tools have fixes for this change already. Google updated its home page to test new AI buttons https://www.seroundtable.com/google-home-page-ai-features-41842.html . Google improved the preferred sources button https://www.seroundtable.com/google-preferred-source-button-update-41912.html for publishers and lowered the subscriber requirement https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-profiles-lowers-subscriber-requirements-41866.html for search profiles. Google fixed a bugs with favicons and crawl stats https://www.seroundtable.com/google-fix-favicon-crawl-stats-41928.html data, which may have led to Google updating its favicon help documentation https://www.seroundtable.com/google-favicon-docs-file-formats-41970.html . Google said Reddit gets no special preference https://www.seroundtable.com/reddit-no-special-preference-google-41818.html in Google Search and there is nothing to do for generative AI responses https://www.seroundtable.com/google-generative-ai-search-responses-todo-41916.html in Search. Google started to temporarily show fewer PDFs https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-fewer-pdf-files-41946.html in search and the IRS website dropped https://www.seroundtable.com/irs-website-drops-google-search-41967.html heavily in Google, but it is back now. Google Search Console's new generative AI reports expanded https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-ai-report-live-41850.html , but the report had a bug a couple of weeks ago https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-performance-reports-drop-41884.html . On the local side, Google is aware of missing reviews https://www.seroundtable.com/reviews-missing-google-business-profile-reinstatement-41927.html for reinstated Google Business Profiles. And Google had some big AI leadership changes https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-leadership-shuffle-41824.html this month. If you missed last month, you can read the August 2026 Google Webmaster Report https://www.seroundtable.com/august-2026-google-webmaster-report-41804.html . Here are the important headlines from the past month on this topic: Google Search Updates Google August 2026 Spam Update Has Been Unleashed https://www.seroundtable.com/google-august-2026-spam-update-41895.html Google August 2026 Spam Update Has Finished Rolling Out https://www.seroundtable.com/google-august-2026-spam-update-done-41906.html Google Search Ranking Volatility Continues Post Spam Update https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ranking-volatility-continues-41952.html Google Search Ranking Volatility Spikes On August 12-13 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ranking-volatility-spikes-41869.html Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Into August 5th & 6th https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ranking-volatility-heated-41830.html Google Won't Enforce Its Site Reputation Policy Manual Actions In Europe https://www.seroundtable.com/google-site-reputation-policy-eea-41968.html Why Google Announces Some Search Updates But Not All https://www.seroundtable.com/google-announces-some-updates-41903.html Google Announces Search Updates For Transparency, Actionable Updates Get Blog Posts https://www.seroundtable.com/google-announces-search-updates-41969.html Google: We Do Not Roll Out Updates Prior To The Announcement https://www.seroundtable.com/google-rollout-search-updates-announcement-41901.html Google AI Overviews Pushing Searchers Into AI Mode, Drops Show More Button https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overviews-push-ai-mode-responses-41974.html Google AI Mode Also Gains Link Carousels For Developing Topics https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-mode-link-carousels-41947.html Google AI Overviews With AI-Generated Images In The Wild Test Paused https://www.seroundtable.com/ai-generated-images-google-ai-overviews-41872.html Google Search Using Gemini 3.7 Flash In AI Mode https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-gemini-3-7-flash-41879.html Google AI Overview Local Results Pulling From Low-Quality Listicles https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overview-local-results-listicles-41854.html Google AI Mode Asking Searchers To Sign In https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-mode-sign-in-41962.html Google AI Mode Adds Flight Price Tracking, Mile Rates & Hotel Booking https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-mode-travel-updates-41956.html Google Shows AI Overviews Above Stock Charts For Stock Price Queries https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overviews-stock-price-queries-41934.html Google Copyable Emojis In AI Overviews https://www.seroundtable.com/google-copyable-emojis-ai-overviews-41929.html Confirmed: Google Search Rolling Out google.com/goto Tracking Parameters https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-goto-tracking-41957.html Google Home Page Create Images, Ask About Files & Brainstorm Buttons https://www.seroundtable.com/google-home-page-ai-features-41842.html Google Preferred Source Button Improved For Publishers https://www.seroundtable.com/google-preferred-source-button-update-41912.html Google Lowers Subscriber Requirements For Search Profiles https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-profiles-lowers-subscriber-requirements-41866.html You Can Now Edit Your Handle On Google Search Profiles https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-profiles-edit-your-handle-41886.html Google Search Video Carousel Showing Less Often https://www.seroundtable.com/google-video-carousel-drops-41894.html Google Tests Pink Highlights In Featured Snippets https://www.seroundtable.com/google-pink-highlights-featured-snippets-41926.html Google Discover Feed Can Be Tailored By Words https://www.seroundtable.com/google-discover-tailored-feed-by-words-41911.html Google Assistant Shutting Down On Mobile Devices On September 4 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-assistant-shutting-down-41822.html Google Fixed Favicon Bug & Crawl Stats Missing Data https://www.seroundtable.com/google-fix-favicon-crawl-stats-41928.html Spike In Complaints On Favicons Disappearing From Google Search https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-favicons-breaking-41904.html Google: Reddit Gets No Special Preference In Google Search Rankings https://www.seroundtable.com/reddit-no-special-preference-google-41818.html Google: There Is Nothing Special To Do For Generative AI Responses In Search https://www.seroundtable.com/google-generative-ai-search-responses-todo-41916.html Google Search Now Lists The Supported Favicon File Formats https://www.seroundtable.com/google-favicon-docs-file-formats-41970.html Google Search Showing Fewer PDF Files. But Why? https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-fewer-pdf-files-41946.html IRS Website Drops Heavily In Google Search https://www.seroundtable.com/irs-website-drops-google-search-41967.html Google Crawlers Send HTTP Requests: HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, PATCH, DELETE https://www.seroundtable.com/google-crawlers-head-options-put-patch-delete-41833.html Google Search Will Eventually Support HTTP QUERY Method https://www.seroundtable.com/google-support-http-query-method-41882.html JSON-LD Extraction For Googlebot Now Does One Pass Of HTML Unescaping https://www.seroundtable.com/json-ld-extraction-googlebot-41921.html Google: Hreflang URLs Not Indexed In The Proper Sense https://www.seroundtable.com/google-hreflang-urls-not-indexed-41838.html Google Says Google's Crawlers Don't Parse JSON https://www.seroundtable.com/google-crawlers-dont-parse-json-41936.html Misconfiguring Cloudflare Can Hurt Your SEO Badly https://www.seroundtable.com/misconfigure-cloudflare-seo-41865.html Googlebot Say They Are Coming From California But Might Not https://www.seroundtable.com/google-crawlers-location-googlebot-41874.html Google Search Console Generative AI Performance Report Expands To More https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-ai-report-live-41850.html Google Search Console Shows AI Mode Queries, Not In Generative AI Reports https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-ai-mode-queries-41821.html Google Performance Reports Drop In Impressions/Clicks ~August 12 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-performance-reports-drop-41884.html Google Search Console Crawl Stats Missing Two Days Of Data https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-crawl-stats-missing-41923.html Google Search Console Sends New Owner Email Notifications - Bug? https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-new-owner-emails-41932.html Spammy Google Selected Canonical In Search Console https://www.seroundtable.com/spammy-google-selected-canonical-41863.html Google Aware Of Reviews Missing After Google Business Profile Reinstatement https://www.seroundtable.com/reviews-missing-google-business-profile-reinstatement-41927.html Google Bringing Back Google Posts Insights People Viewed https://www.seroundtable.com/google-posts-insights-views-41913.html Google Business Profiles Testing Revamped Q&A Feature https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profiles-revamped-qa-41896.html Google Local Disallows Repeated Bilingual Names & Transliterations https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profiles-disallows-repeated-bilingual-names-41839.html Google AI Leadership Changes: Jeff Dean Leaves, Demis Hassabis Change & More https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-leadership-shuffle-41824.html Google Amends Lawsuit Against SerpApi Over Licensed Content https://www.seroundtable.com/google-amends-lawsuit-against-serpapi-41860.html SEOs Taking Over Expired Google X Accounts https://www.seroundtable.com/seo-expired-google-x-accounts-41844.html Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/5133446-2-50.htm .