Google has released its Webspam Report for 2016, offering insights into the predominant webspam trends observed over the past year and outlining the company’s efforts to combat it.
Here’s a summary of the key data points from Google’s report, which is divided into three sections.
Top Webspam Trends in 2016
- Website security: There was a 32% increase compared to 2015.
- Beyond webspam: Many webmasters were affected by social engineering, unwanted software, and unwanted ad injectors.
- Mobile webspam: With the rise in mobile browsing, there was an increase in spam targeting mobile users, typically involving unwanted redirects.
How Google Fought Spam
- Made several algorithm improvements, including integrating Penguin into the core algorithm.
- Manually sent 9 million messages to webmasters to inform them of webspam issues on their sites.
- Began sending more security notifications via Google Analytics.
- Took manual action on over 10,000 sites that had structured data markup not meeting Google’s quality guidelines.
How Google Worked With The Community
- Received 180,000 user-submitted spam reports in 2016, with 52% confirmed as spam.
- Conducted over 170 online office hours and live events globally.
- Provided support to website owners through the Webmaster Help Forums in 15 languages.
