Google has announced an editorial update to its site reputation abuse policy, incorporating guidance from their blog post's FAQ section. This update aims to make the existing guidelines more accessible, with no changes to enforcement behavior.
Understanding Site Reputation Abuse
Site reputation abuse occurs when third-party content is published on a host site primarily to leverage that host's established ranking signals, which were earned through first-party content. The goal is to achieve higher rankings than the content would naturally earn on its own.
Third-party content is created by entities separate from the host site, including:
- Freelancers
- Users of the site
- White-label services
- Content creators not directly employed by the host site
What Constitutes a Violation?
It's important to note that merely hosting third-party content does not violate the policy. Violations occur specifically when content placement is motivated by exploiting the host site's ranking signals.
Examples of Policy Violations
Google has identified several scenarios that constitute site reputation abuse:
- Educational sites hosting sponsored payday loan reviews from third parties that distribute identical content across multiple websites
- Medical sites featuring third-party "best casinos" advertising pages that are inconsistent with user expectations
- Movie review sites publishing third-party content about unrelated topics like social media follower purchases, fortune telling services, or essay writing services
- News sites hosting white-label coupon services primarily to capitalize on site reputation
- Established sites expanding into new areas using primarily freelance content to leverage existing ranking power
Legitimate Third-Party Content Practices
Google has clarified several scenarios that do not violate the site reputation abuse policy:
Wire service and press release sites, syndicated news content among publications, and user-generated content platforms remain acceptable. Additionally, editorial content such as columns and opinion pieces, along with properly disclosed native advertising focused on direct reader engagement rather than search manipulation, are permitted.
The policy also allows for appropriate use of affiliate links and third-party ad units, as well as merchant-sourced coupons serving consumer interests.
