As we enter a new year, Joyce Yang speaks to four iGaming SEO experts to review the impacts of recent Google core updates and what the year 2026 will look like in terms of spam updates and AI search.
The year 2025 was yet another one haunted by the doomsday rumour that “SEO is dead”. With the full launch of AI Mode and AI Overviews now dominating many user queries, it does seem that Google Search is going through a phase. But given the sensitive nature and regulatory complexity of the gambling sector, what does the past year mean for iGaming SEOs, and how do they expect Search to evolve in 2026? Here’s what iGBA heard.
December core update
Like any other year, 2025 was punctuated by four Google core updates, with the most recent rolling out in December and lasting 18 days.
While SEO consultant Martin McGarry said he “saw very little change in the December core update”, Hyun Lee, a former SEO advisor for Mr Gamble, noted that it “had a small but positive effect on established affiliate sites, big or small”. However, he pointed out that what is more concerning is the lasting havoc caused by the August 2024 core update, which “impacted the industry to the point where even some medium-sized affiliates were forced to exit some markets”.
Johan Sunnanängs, CEO at Cashleads Media AB and founder of Spelcash.se, added that the updates’ impact “has been more moderate” in Sweden compared to English-speaking markets, although Google seems to be ramping up its enforcement in his region.
The latest loophole flagged by Sei Kato, market growth SEO specialist at ICS-digital, is the emergence of uncommon domain extensions such as “.us.com” and “.co.com” across language regions, which can circumvent parts of the algorithm and push new sites to the front of SERPs. For example, as shown in the screenshots below, topranked.us.com, a new site ranked for “best online casinos”, is seeing a massive spike in organic traffic despite having zero backlinks.
Meanwhile, SEOs agree that parasite SEO and dropped domain abuse remain an uphill battle for Google, as legacy authority still outweighs content quality in many cases. “Our niche is still heavily impacted by spam and we're all still pointing fingers at each other,” McGarry says. “Core updates generally do not tackle wholesale spam tactics – they are designed to promote, not to punish. With all the spam, many good affiliates are simply giving up or selling.”
Predicting 2026
When it comes to peering into the crystal ball, Lee believes that “operators who are investing in great SEO will continue to benefit from updates” as Google is too busy winning the AI race rather than cleaning up traditional search. This means tactics like parasite content, canonical abuse, domain abuse and PR abuse may still have room to wiggle for the foreseeable future.
McGarry, however, believes that Google will be "looking at dropped domains in general, and we will see spam updates in the next couple of months".
"Google is often quite tight-lipped on updates, but they mentioned dropped domain spam in Google Discover last year. Nowadays, it rarely discloses the specifics of any of its updates, let alone to say in advance it will target a particular area. But once the dropped domain spam landed some political coverage, Google decided to announce it would work on that tactic in Discover as a target," he explains.
The only prediction that is ever guaranteed each year is: backlinks will continue to be a key ranking factor in Google’s algorithm
Sei Kato, market growth SEO specialist at ICS-digital
In terms of core updates, as with previous ones, McGarry believes they will become “more and more aggressive and devastating for sites with quality issues”. While a churn-and-burn approach can yield results, it is likely to be unsustainable since “Google will flex more of its core update muscle to deindex as much as it can”. That said, with many sites now scaling up using AI at Frankensteinian speed, it may be a Herculean task for Google to stay on top of its index and clean up the landscape effectively.
While only Google insiders can say what 2026 will look like in Search, Kato is sure one thing will not change: “The only prediction that is ever guaranteed each year is: backlinks will continue to be a key ranking factor in Google’s algorithm. This is why affiliate sites and operators should continue to focus on gaining more backlinks, and even brand mentions which help fuel AI/LLM mentions nowadays through digital PR and link acquisition campaigns.”
How will AI search change?
As Google doubles down on AI search, McGarry suggests SEOs may see less communication around core updates and more around how AI features and organic search are converging. Although there have been reports that AI Overviews are decimating paid and organic CTR, the sensitive nature of gambling content means Google is reluctant to fully roll out the feature in the iGaming sector. Nevertheless, he encourages leading affiliates to diversify their channels beyond Google for both growth and peace of mind.
My opinion is, at some point, LLMs will have to embrace sources of knowledge, and we will have a better citation system, not quite ten blue links, but enough to keep businesses happy
Martin McGarry, iGaming search consultant
Sunnanängs adds that despite the anticipated shift in consumer behaviour, Google remains the dominant traffic source for his brands. “Around 95% of our traffic still comes from Google search, so our primary focus is on adapting to Google’s ecosystem rather than reallocating major resources elsewhere,” he says. “We are monitoring AI-driven search developments closely, but until there is a clearer and measurable shift, our strategy is to continue prioritising organic search and content quality.”
Moreover, with a potential AI bubble burst on the horizon, McGarry advises the industry not to take its foot off the gas or hit the panic button: “My opinion is, at some point, LLMs will have to embrace sources of knowledge, and we will have a better citation system, not quite ten blue links, but enough to keep businesses happy, because AI search companies want to sell ads; they need a really good organic system where users are given information, knowledge and fundamentally, the right to choose.”
Likewise, Kato observes that iGaming SERPs are seeing a comeback of featured snippets, as shown above with racingpost.com ranking in the number one position for the search term “best online casino”, giving affiliates more exposure. Ultimately, AI search or not, the formula for sustainable traffic growth may not look so different from before.
“Affiliates need to make sure technical SEO elements like schema are in place so Google is provided the information in the right ways, then gain brand mentions and backlinks from top-tier publications to further grow their backlink profile and keep cementing themselves as ‘experts’ in Google’s algorithm,” he explains.
As of writing, the Google Search status dashboard is still blank for 2026. How this year will look for iGaming SEOs remains to be seen, but those who are prepared and focused on players will stay ahead of the game.