Google Says Search Got Much Better at Identifying Spam Sites Last Year

Spam sites use search engine optimization, or SEO, techniques to artificially improve their search rankings.

Google filters out spam sites designed to trick its algorithm.

SpamBrain led to a 70% reduction in hacked spam, Google said.

Other types of hacked spam can inject malware onto people’s computers and redirect them to malicious sites.

SpamBrain helps keep these websites out of Google Search, Google said.

Google said it also reduced gibberish spam by 75%.

Gibberish spam involves malware or scam sites that use keyword-stuffed nonsensical sentences in an attempt to boost their ranking.

Spam sites can also use link spam to game Google’s quality signal, known as PageRank.

This is done by having other sites link to them, sometimes by offering money, to boost ranking.

SpamBrain launched in 2018.