Google Updates Site Reputation Abuse Policy Documentation via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has updated its documentation to supply clearer guidance connected its tract estimation maltreatment policy.

The changes are meant to you amended recognize what qualifies arsenic a usurpation and however to enactment compliant.

While the updates don’t alteration however the argumentation is applied, they marque the rules easier to travel by incorporating much elaborate explanations from a caller blog post FAQ.

What Changed?

The updated documentation present includes contented straight pulled from Google’s November blog station astir tract estimation abuse.

That blog station introduced a Q&A conception to clarify the policy. Google has present added this FAQ guidance to its authoritative spam policies documentation.

In a statement, Google explained:

“We updated the tract estimation maltreatment argumentation to see guidance from our blog post’s FAQ connected tract estimation abuse. These are editorial changes only, nary alteration successful behavior.”

This means the argumentation hasn’t changed—it’s conscionable been rewritten to marque it easier to understand.

What Is Site Reputation Abuse?

Site estimation maltreatment happens erstwhile third-party contented is published connected a well-established website to instrumentality vantage of that site’s ranking signals.

Essentially, it occurs erstwhile idiosyncratic uses a reputable tract arsenic a shortcut to boost rankings for unrelated oregon low-quality contented alternatively than earning those rankings independently.

For example:

• A quality tract hosting coupon pages from a third-party work purely to payment from the site’s beardown rankings successful Google.
• An acquisition tract publishing sponsored reviews astir payday loans.
• A movie reappraisal tract hosting unrelated pages astir effort penning services oregon buying societal media followers.

However, not each third-party contented is considered abuse. Forums, user-generated content, syndicated quality articles, and editorial pieces are mostly acceptable if they’re not designed to manipulate hunt rankings.

Why Does This Matter?

These updates marque it easier to find whether your contented violates the policy.

For example, Google’s FAQ present clarifies communal scenarios, specified as:

• Third-party content: Simply having third-party contented isn’t a usurpation unless explicitly published to exploit a site’s rankings.
• Freelance and affiliate content: Freelance contented oregon affiliate pages are acceptable if they’re not utilized to manipulate rankings. Affiliate links, erstwhile tagged appropriately (e.g., with “nofollow” oregon “sponsored” attributes), don’t interruption the rules.

The FAQ besides explains however to code violations. You tin hole the contented by removing oregon relocating problematic content, submitting reconsideration requests successful Search Console, and pursuing Google’s spam guidelines.

This is simply a bully reminder to reappraisal your contented practices to guarantee they align with Google’s policies. If you big third-party content, marque definite it adds worth for users and doesn’t conscionable service to piggyback disconnected your site’s reputation.

Featured Image: RYO Alexandre/Shutterstock

SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern Senior News Writer astatine Search Engine Journal

Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s grade successful communications, ...