In a significant reversal, Google has modified its site reputation abuse spam policy within the European Economic Area, exempting users in the 27 EU nations, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein from any demotion penalties. This change, announced on Friday, follows an investigation by the European Commission under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and aims to address concerns that the policy unfairly penalized news media and other publishers.

Key Takeaways

• Google has altered its spam policy to stop demoting sites in the European Economic Area (EEA) for hosting third-party content, effective August 30.
• The change applies to users in the 27 EU nations, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein; the policy remains unchanged outside the EEA.
• The European Commission had opened a DMA investigation into Google’s site reputation abuse policy after complaints from publishers.
• EU Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier welcomed the repeal, stating the policy unfairly penalized publishers and business users of Google Search.
• Failure to comply with the DMA can result in fines of up to 10% of a company’s global annual turnover.

Background: The Site Reputation Abuse Policy and Its Impact

Google’s site reputation abuse policy, introduced to combat “parasite SEO,” targeted the practice of publishing third-party pages on a site to exploit search rankings by leveraging the host site’s ranking signals. However, the European Commission’s monitoring indicated that this policy inadvertently demoted news media and other publishers’ websites in Google search results when those sites included content from commercial partners.

This led to complaints from publishers, prompting the European Commission to open an investigation under the Digital Markets Act. The investigation sought to determine whether Google’s enforcement of the policy violated the DMA’s obligations, which are designed to ensure fair and open digital markets.

Google’s Policy Change in the EEA

Starting August 30, any manual actions to demote sites under the spam policy will not apply to users in the European Economic Area, which includes the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. The policy itself remains unchanged outside the EEA, meaning publishers outside these regions will continue to be subject to the same enforcement.

The modification was announced on Friday by Alphabet’s Google, signaling a proactive step to address EU concerns and potentially avoid an antitrust fine. The European Commission has stated it will monitor the application of the new policy to ensure it complies with the DMA.

EU Reactions and Regulatory Implications

EU Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier welcomed the repeal of the policy, stating that it “unfairly penalized publishers and other business users of Google Search.” Regnier added that “thanks to the DMA, Google Search will no longer demote press publications solely for hosting third-party content.”

This development highlights the growing influence of the DMA, which grants the European Commission significant powers to regulate large online platforms. Under the DMA, breaches can result in fines of up to 10% of a company’s global annual turnover, providing a strong incentive for companies like Google to align their practices with EU regulations.

What Happens Next

The European Commission will continue to monitor how Google applies its revised policy in the EEA to ensure full compliance with the DMA. For publishers in the region, this change offers relief from potential demotions, but the long-term implications for search rankings and digital advertising remain to be seen. Outside the EEA, the site reputation abuse policy remains in force, indicating a divergent regulatory landscape for digital platforms across different regions.