Tweets: Google Says Scaled Content Is Now a Bigger Problem Than Link Spam. Check Your AI Refreshes.

1. Gary Illyes at Search Central Live: scaled content is now more of a problem than link spam. Google filters out 40 billion spam pages a day, and the spam team is using AI to help catch more of it. [LINK]

2. Ran 300 old posts through an AI tool last month? Same rewritten intros, same "Key Takeaways" box, same new date. That batch can look a lot like scaled content to Google. [LINK]

3. Google updated its generative AI content guide on October 1. It now points to the rater guideline sections on scaled content abuse and content with little effort, originality, or added value. [LINK]

4. Quick test for your last refresh batch: pick five pages and write down one thing a reader can learn now that they couldn't before. "It reads better" doesn't count. [LINK]

5. John Mueller in September: Google's systems can "lose faith" in a site based on its weaker pages, and earning it back takes time and significant effort. Bulk low-value refreshes put the whole site at risk. [LINK]

6. Ten pages with real updates beat 200 pages with new wording. Add your own screenshots, test results, and changed recommendations. AI can write it up once you have it. [LINK]

7. The September 2026 spam update was still rolling out as of October 5. If you shipped a big AI refresh batch after September 24, wait for the rollout to finish before you judge it. Full breakdown: [LINK]