Social Signals
Google sending manual actions for site reputation abuse in Europe?
Jan
It appears Google may be starting to roll out manual actions for site reputation abuse in Europe. Coupon sites in Italy, Spain, and France seem to have already been impacted.
What we’re seeing. Laura Chiocciora, head of SEO at Bravo Savings Network, posted on X:
- “Looks like Google is finally sending manual actions in Europe! Here’s an example from Italy: all the whitelabel projects are now gone (except Ansa). Seeing similar things in other countries too
And shared screenshots of what’s she’s seeing in Italy:
And Spain:
SEO consultant Fabien Raquidel replied saying he’s seeing similar in France on X:
Glenn Gabe, an SEO consultant at G-Squared Interactive, also reported seeing big changes on X:
- “I just checked a number of sites I had documented. Yep, all seeing big drops starting yesterday into today. And when running site queries, I see the infamous ’10 results’ returned.”
Why we care. We’ve been waiting to see when Google would begin its global rollout of manual actions for site reputation abuse. Well, now we are seeing it. Make sure to check Google Search Console to see if Google has taken any manual action on your site and also check your traffic as well as Google Search to see whether your site may have been deindexed.
No official confirmation yet. Google has not announced anything publicly about this action. I’ve reached out to see if they will confirm and will update the story if I hear back.
U.S. manual actions. Google began penalizing sites under its (then) new search spam policies in March 2024. This was announced at the same time as the March 2024 Google core update, which Google’s Elizabeth Tucker called the biggest core update ever at SMX Advanced last year.
About manual actions. Websites that Google takes manual action are reviewed by humans – they are not given algorithmically. According to Google:
- “Google issues a manual action against a site when a human reviewer at Google has determined that pages on the site are not compliant with Google’s spam policies. Most manual actions address attempts to manipulate our search index. Most issues reported here will result in pages or sites being ranked lower or omitted from search results without any visual indication to the user.”
Dig deeper. Google penalties, manual actions and notifications: A complete guide
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About the author
Danny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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