Google has a new rule to scrutinize third-party content. When websites post third-party content to manipulate search engines and gain rankings, it’s not fair, and Google’s doing something about it with its new site reputation abuse policy.
In this post, Danny Conlon, VP of Product and Marketing, will review the policy, its consequences, and why it matters.
What is Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy?
Google defines site reputation abuse as the process of a website publishing third-party content with no oversight, to manipulate search rankings by taking advantage of the first-party site’s ranking signals.
Google categorizes third-party content as sponsored, advertising, partner, or other third-party pages independent of a host site’s main purpose, often providing little value to visitors.
However, Google stressed that all third-party content doesn’t fall into this bucket. They offered these examples in their publication of websites that would be in violation:
- A medical site hosting a third-party page about the “best casinos” to manipulate search rankings with no oversight from the first-party site
- An educational site with third-party payday loan reviews to gain ranking benefits from the first-party site
If these third-party sites begin to inflate their value, Google said, “Such content ranking highly in Search can confuse or mislead visitors who may have vastly different expectations for the content on a given website.”
My Expert Opinion on Site Reputation Abuse
Your website could be at risk for deindexing by Google if you violate the site reputation abuse policy.
If you host third-party content, you must oversee it to ensure its presence isn’t to manipulate search engines. All content on your website should be helpful, unique, and geared towards your website users.
Action Item: Conduct a website reputation check if you host third-party content. If anything appears to violate the policy, you should proactively remove or deindex it.
Who Does This Policy Affect?
The website reputation policy applies to any website that hosts third-party content. Since it took effect on May 6, Google has enforced it on many well-known websites.
CNN, USA Today, Fortune, and the LA Times are just a sample of websites found in violation. Similar websites like Forbes and the Wall Street Journal manually blocked this content before Google began to enforce it.
Consequences of Violating The Site Reputation Abuse Policy
Thus far, Google has confirmed that the current violation consequences are a manual action. The process is to notify the websites of the penalties in their Search Console profiles.
The result is that third-party content leveraging placements on higher authority websites no longer appears in search results. Google took the action of delisting it.
Lifting the manual action involves site owners taking actions to comply with the policy, such as noindexing the content or removing it. After doing these things, the organization can submit a reconsideration request via the Google Search Console. If Google verifies the site is no longer in violation, they may lift the manual action.
Google has warned that the next phase will involve algorithmic action.
Why Is This Update Important?
As a marketer or business owner, why should you care about this update, especially if you don’t host third-party content?
Well, it helps level the playing field for those of you doing the hard and continuous work on SEO. These third-party sites have been able to game the system a bit by this manipulation tactic. They get the benefit of the ranking signals of a reputable website.
Google continues to refine organic results, and the secret sauce of their algorithm isn’t public. However, the company always has the mantra of quality and relevance to the searcher in what it delivers. This policy seems to support this philosophy.
Is All Third-Party Content Bad?
The short answer is no.
Google recognizes that much third-party content does have oversight from the first-party site. Many websites have this content on their site in the form of native advertising or advertorial advertising.
Native advertising is typically in the style and format of the hosting website. Native ads don’t really look like ads but always have a disclaimer.
Advertorials have the appearance of an editorial. The content is often informative, and the hosting site has supervision of it.
Google wants to make it clear that third-party content is acceptable. They expect native or advertorial ads to be under the watchful eye of the first-party site, ensuring they are useful to their readers and not used in a way to influence rankings.
Site Reputation Abuse Policy Cracks Down on Search Manipulation
The Google website abuse policy launches a new era in search results. If your site includes third-party content, you’ll need to conduct a site reputation check. You may need to either hide content from search engines or create new policies around the management of it.
For those who don’t have third-party content, this update still has implications. If you’re competing for organic placement on keywords that third-party content optimizes for, you could see improvements.
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