On December 21, 2024, website owner Masab Farooque reported that his independent anime and gaming website Replay Jutsu experienced a significant drop in search visibility following Google's December spam update. According to data shared on social media, the site disappeared from search results even for branded keywords.
According to Farooque, who launched Replay Jutsu in March 2024, the impact was severe and immediate. "Getting hit by a spam update is the last nail in the coffin, posts will be indexed but won't show up in search engine results pages," he stated on social media platform X.
The website's founder, who has five years of experience writing about technology and entertainment, detailed that the site focuses on providing detailed anime and gaming content. Based on his LinkedIn profile, Farooque previously worked as a freelance game developer and participated in Google's Product Experts Program from July 2020 to present.
Multiple other content creators reported similar experiences. According to San Mor, another affected website owner, "167 keywords disappeared yesterday. 500 less visits per day." Dhiren Mulani shared performance data showing minimal search visibility over a six-month period, stating that "whenever the website gained visibility, Google killed the momentum."
The timing of this update coincides with increased visibility for larger publishing entities. According to observations from affected website owners, established news websites like Hindustan Times and ComingSoon have maintained or improved their search positions. Daniel Hart noted that ComingSoon's content follows a templated approach, stating "I'm really surprised Coming Soon hasn't been slapped. They are templated every post."
The technical implementation of Google's spam update appears to particularly affect smaller independent publishers. Arka Sarkar highlighted this disparity, noting that sites with "general authority" received favorable treatment despite concerns about content quality. This observation aligns with Farooque's assessment that "anything that is not a 'brand' is 'spam' for Google."
Josh Tyler, another affected publisher, commented on the threshold for brand recognition, stating that "their threshold for what is a brand is really high. Basically you're either Pepsi or nothing."
And their threshold for what is a brand is really high. Basically you’re either Pepsi or nothing.
— Josh Tyler (@joshtyler) December 21, 2024
The update's impact extends beyond traditional spam signals. Farooque noted that even "the most spammiest anime sites that straight up GPT stuff are back in this spam update." This suggests that Google's algorithms may be prioritizing domain authority over traditional spam indicators.
From a technical perspective, the update appears to maintain content indexing while affecting search result placement. According to San Mor, this pattern represents a shift from previous spam updates: "Worse still, the latest spam updates never worried me. I was never hit."
The development raises questions about the future of independent digital publishing. Small publishers report that their Facebook posts now rank higher than their actual websites, indicating a significant shift in how Google evaluates content authority and legitimacy in search results.
For context, Replay Jutsu operates as a specialized anime and gaming news website run by a single content creator with relevant educational background - a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from COMSATS University Islamabad. The site aims to provide detailed coverage of anime and gaming topics, with the founder having certification credentials from Google's Play Academy and experience in the Google Product Experts Program.
This incident highlights ongoing changes in search engine algorithms and their impact on independent digital publishers. The situation continues to develop as website owners assess the long-term implications for their operations and content strategies.