Google Releases Report on how it Fought Webspam in 2019

One of Google‘s goal has always been to deliver the highest quality results possible on its search engine.

Unfortunately, it has never been that easy. That’s because disruptive behavior and content — webspam — can degrade search experience. So, Google dedicated several tools and efforts towards preventing spam from appearing in search results.

Main Takeaways:

Google caught 90 percent of spam links.
Google continuously alerts site owners when caught spamming.
Using Machine Learning solutions to fight spam.

While it has been challenging to remain ahead of spammers, the tech giant has been relatively successful in this endeavor.

In its recently published webspam report, Google stated that it filters 25 billion spammy pages every day. As a result, more than 99 percent of Google’s search results are spam-free.

Executives from the search and advertising giant wrote:

“We’re very serious about making sure that your chance of encountering spammy pages in Search is as small as possible. Our efforts have helped ensure that more than 99% of visits from our results lead to spam-free experiences.”

Here are the other takeaways from the 2019 webspam report.

How Google Fought WebSpam in 2019

90 Percent of Link Spam Caught

The report noted that user-generated spam has remained stable since the 80 percent drop in 2018. Meanwhile, link spam continues to be the most common form of spam.

Google, however, reported that it successfully curb the impact of link spam in 2019. Not only did the system catch 90 percent of link spam, but it also rendered techniques such as paid links and link exchange ineffective.

The search giant stated that hack spam is now more stable compared with the previous year. What’s more, it’s working on a solution to better detect and notify webmasters about this form of spam.

Using Machine Learning to Improve WebSpam Fighting

Google stated that one of its 2019 priorities was to improve spam fighting using machine learning systems. So, it combined ML solutions with manual enforcement to catch spammy results on its platform.

It worked. Last year, the search giant reduced deceptive sites’ impact by more than 60 percent compared with 2018.

Webmaster Outreach

Finally, Google discussed its webmaster outreach effort concerning spam fighting. After detecting spam, the search engine company alerts the site owner via the Search Console.

In 2019, Google sent more than 90 million messages to website owners. The notification consists of any issue that may affect a website’s appearance in search results.

According to the report, only about 4.3 million messages were related to manual actions resulting from violations of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.