In recent days, SEO professionals have been surprised by the effective implementation of Google's new website reputation abuse policy to combat this type of infraction.
The policy, announced in the March 2024 update , went into effect on May 5, with its practical implementation beginning a day later, reaching major news portals such as CNN, USA Today, LA Times and many others.
The initiative aims to protect users from third-party content that could manipulate search results by exploiting the established reputation of larger portals to gain rankings.
Understanding Website Reputation Abuse Policy
Google defines website reputation abuse as “third-party pages published with little or no direct oversight, whose purpose is to manipulate search rankings by exploiting the main site’s ranking signals.” This includes sponsored, advertising, or partner pages that are not part of the site’s primary purpose.
The central idea of the policy is to ensure that the pages of a forex data website are aligned with the quality and original purpose of the portal, avoiding confusion and maintaining the integrity of the information offered to visitors.
First phase: manual actions
In this first stage of enforcement, actions against reputation abuse were carried out manually, as reported by Google's Danny Sullivan via X .
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Google's team manually reviewed the sites and took action in accordance with the policy, notifying the owners via Google Search Console about the violations. Following this notification, the sites had their third-party content sections removed from the search index.
Site owners who received these penalties were advised to follow the instructions provided in the notification to correct the violations by removing inappropriate content and avoiding practices that aim to manipulate search rankings.
Next steps: algorithmic actions
While the initial phase involved manual actions, Sullivan confirmed that algorithmic actions are under development and should be implemented soon. The expectation is that, with automated enforcement, the removal of manipulated content will be even more comprehensive and efficient, protecting the user experience in search results.
Major sites like Forbes and the Wall Street Journal anticipated the change and voluntarily removed directories that contained content that was susceptible to the new policy, avoiding harsher penalties. Others, like CNN and USA Today, were directly impacted and had to adapt quickly.
Conclusion: the importance of transparency
This Google policy highlights the growing need for transparency and quality in the content published by websites. Companies that operate their own websites must be vigilant in ensuring that each published page meets the primary goals of the portal and offers real value to users.
With automatic enforcement of the policy on the way, it is essential that managers review their publishing practices and ensure that their third-party content is properly monitored. Additionally, removing material that does not comply with the company’s principles can be a key step in avoiding future penalties.