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Friday, July 03, 2020
Thanks to our users, wereceive hundreds of spam reportsevery day. While many of the spam reports lead tomanual actions, they
represent a small fraction of the manual actions we issue. Most of the manual actions come from
the work our internal teams regularly do to detect spam and improve search results. Today we're
updating ourquality guidelinesto better reflect this approach:we use spam reports only to improve our spam detection algorithms.
Spam reports play a significant role: they help us understand where our automated spam detection
systems may be missing coverage. Most of the time, it's much more impactful for us to fix an
underlying issue with our automated detection systems than it is to take manual action on a
single URL or site.
In theory, if our automated systems were perfect, we would catch all spam and not need reporting
systems at all. The reality is that while our spam detection systems work well, there's always
room for improvement, and spam reporting is a crucial resource to help us with that. Spam
reports in aggregate form help us analyzetrends and patternsin spammy content to improve our algorithms.
Overall, one of the best approaches to keeping spam out of Search is to rely on high quality
content created by the web community and our ability to surface it through ranking. You can
learn more about our approach to improving Search and generating great results at ourHow Search Works site. Content
owners and creators can also learn how to create high-quality content to be successful in Search
through ourGoogle Webmasters resources.
Our spam detection systems work with our regular ranking systems, andspam reportshelp us continue to improve both so we very much appreciate them.
If you have any questions or comments, please let us knowon Twitter.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle primarily uses spam reports to enhance its automated spam detection algorithms, not solely for manual actions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSpam reports are crucial for identifying gaps in Google's automated systems and improving overall spam detection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle emphasizes creating high-quality content as the best way to combat spam and improve search results.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle relies on a combination of automated systems, ranking algorithms, and spam reports to ensure quality search results.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are encouraged to report spam as it helps Google analyze trends and patterns for algorithm improvement.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google's primary strategy for combating spam relies on internal teams and automated detection systems, not solely on user reports. While user spam reports are a minor source of manual actions, they are crucial for identifying gaps in automated systems. Reports, when aggregated, highlight trends and patterns in spam, improving detection algorithms. High-quality content and robust ranking systems, alongside ongoing algorithm refinement, are key to maintaining spam-free search results.\n"],null,["# How spam reports are used at Google\n\nFriday, July 03, 2020\n\n\nThanks to our users, we\n[receive hundreds of spam reports](/search/blog/2020/06/how-we-fought-search-spam-on-google)\nevery day. While many of the spam reports lead to\n[manual actions](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044175), they\nrepresent a small fraction of the manual actions we issue. Most of the manual actions come from\nthe work our internal teams regularly do to detect spam and improve search results. Today we're\nupdating our\n[quality guidelines](/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)\nto better reflect this approach:\n**we use spam reports only to improve our spam detection algorithms**.\n\n\nSpam reports play a significant role: they help us understand where our automated spam detection\nsystems may be missing coverage. Most of the time, it's much more impactful for us to fix an\nunderlying issue with our automated detection systems than it is to take manual action on a\nsingle URL or site.\n\n\nIn theory, if our automated systems were perfect, we would catch all spam and not need reporting\nsystems at all. The reality is that while our spam detection systems work well, there's always\nroom for improvement, and spam reporting is a crucial resource to help us with that. Spam\nreports in aggregate form help us analyze\n[trends and patterns](https://www.blog.google/products/search/how-we-keep-spam-out-of-search/)\nin spammy content to improve our algorithms.\n\n\nOverall, one of the best approaches to keeping spam out of Search is to rely on high quality\ncontent created by the web community and our ability to surface it through ranking. You can\nlearn more about our approach to improving Search and generating great results at our\n[How Search Works site](https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/). Content\nowners and creators can also learn how to create high-quality content to be successful in Search\nthrough our [Google Webmasters resources](/search/docs).\nOur spam detection systems work with our regular ranking systems, and\n[spam reports](/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/report-spam)\nhelp us continue to improve both so we very much appreciate them.\n\n\nIf you have any questions or comments, please let us know [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/googlesearchc).\n\n\nPosted by [Gary Illyes](https://garyillyes.com/+)"]]
