Google’s new search spam policy on reputation abuse, or what SEOs have referred to as “parasite SEO,” will go into effect “after May 5,” according to Google. May 5 is this Sunday.
We knew this was coming. Google told us this change was coming in March, when Google announced several search improvements, which also included the March 2024 Core Update (which was completed on April 19) and spam updates (which they completed on March 20).
Google Reminder. Google Search Central published in X:
What is site reputation abuse? When third-party websites host low-quality content provided by third parties to leverage the ranking power of those third-party websites. As Google told us in March:
“A third party may post payday loan reviews on a trusted educational website to gain site ranking benefits.” “Such high content rankings in search can confuse or mislead visitors who may have very different expectations of the content on a given website.”
According to Google’s new policy, site reputation abuse is defined as “third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight by a website owner” and “intended to manipulate the ranking of search” will be considered spam.
But. Not all third-party content will be considered spam, as Google explained:
“Many publications host advertising content aimed at their regular readers, rather than primarily manipulating search rankings. Sometimes called ‘native advertising’ or ‘advertising’, this type of content would not normally confuse regular readers of the publication when they find it directly to the publisher’s site or when they arrive there from Google search results.”
Google said in March that it would begin taking both automated and manual actions on this abuse starting May 5. A few days to go now.
Why we care Many SEOs have complained about the harm and unfairness that comes from parasitic SEO. With so many complaints about the quality of search results lately, we’ll see if this helps solve the problem.
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About the author
Danny Goodwin has been the editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as a senior editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) program. Also helps schedule US SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He was previously executive editor of Search Engine Journal (2017-2022), editor-in-chief of Momentology (2014-2016), and editor from Search. Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at numerous major search conferences and virtual events, and has brought his expertise to bear in a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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