Google has announced changes to its spam policy in Europe following concerns from European Union regulators that the rules could unfairly penalize publishers and potentially lead to an antitrust violation.
The U.S. technology giant faced scrutiny over its site reputation abuse policy after publishers complained that the rules could negatively affect websites hosting content from commercial partners.
The policy targets the practice of publishing third-party content on a website primarily to take advantage of the host site's search ranking signals, a tactic often associated with “parasite SEO.”
According to the European Commission, its monitoring found that Google's enforcement of the policy had resulted in websites and content from news organizations and other publishers being downgraded in Google Search when they carried content produced by commercial partners.
Google said that from August 30, manual actions used to demote websites under the policy will no longer affect users in the 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, which together form the European Economic Area (EEA).
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However, Google clarified that the policy will continue to apply outside the EEA.
Thomas Regnier, a spokesperson for the European Commission, welcomed the change, saying the previous approach had unfairly affected publishers and other businesses using Google Search. He said that as a result of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Google Search will no longer downgrade press publications simply because they feature third-party content.
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The European Commission had launched an investigation into Google's policy under the DMA, the EU's regulatory framework aimed at curbing the market power of major technology companies and ensuring fair competition.
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The Commission said it will monitor the implementation of Google's revised policy to ensure compliance with the DMA. Companies found violating the regulation can face fines of up to 10% of their total annual global revenue, increasing the pressure on major technology platforms to comply with the EU's digital competition rules.