Google's Search Liaison confirmed the commencement of Google's site reputation abuse update on May 6th. This update targets websites that host third-party content with minimal oversight from the host publisher, specifically if the content is aimed at manipulating search rankings.
The practice, sometimes referred to as parasite SEO, involves marketers leveraging another website's reputation to rank their own content in search engines. This strategy is not limited to low-level affiliate marketers but is also employed by major brands, particularly in product reviews and credit card promotions.
Google's formal definition of site reputation abuse is:
"Site reputation abuse is when third-party pages are published with little or no first-party oversight or involvement, where the purpose is to manipulate Search rankings by taking advantage of the first-party site’s ranking signals. Such third-party pages include sponsored, advertising, partner, or other third-party pages that are typically independent of a host site’s main purpose or produced without close oversight or involvement of the host site, and provide little to no value to users."
In response to the update, several big brand sites have removed sections featuring product reviews lacking substantial evidence, such as original product photos, product measurements, and testing results.