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Google adjusts European spam policies to address EU regulatory pressure
Google is modifying its spam policies within the European Economic Area (EEA), including the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, following pressure from the European Commission. The changes specifically target the “site reputation abuse” policy, which aims to combat “parasite SEO”—the practice of using established websites to host third-party content to manipulate search rankings. Publishers had complained that these rules unfairly demoted legitimate news organizations and commercial partners, potentially impacting their advertising revenue.
The adjustments come as part of broader scrutiny under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission has been investigating whether Google’s practices disadvantage competitors and media outlets. Additionally, Google has updated its European Search Dataset Licensing Program, which requires the company to share anonymized search data, including ranking, query, click, and view data, with qualifying competing search engines and AI chatbots to foster fair competition.
In a separate regulatory matter, the European Commission is also examining the impact of Google’s AI-powered search features on the media market. This includes reviewing a proposed opt-out mechanism that would allow publishers to prevent their content from being used in AI-generated summaries without affecting their visibility in traditional search results.
Entities
Alphabet · European Commission · European Economic Area · Google
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 2 SOURCES] Google is implementing a European Search Dataset Licensing Program to share anonymized search data with competitors. www.seroundtable.com · www.searchenginejournal.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The Search Dataset includes ranking, query, click, and view data. www.seroundtable.com
- [● 4 SOURCES] Violations of the DMA can result in fines of up to ten percent of a company's global annual turnover. medianet.at · extradienst.at · denar.mk · www.press.pl
- [● 7 SOURCES] The European Commission investigated Google's spam policies under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). medianet.at · extradienst.at · regtechafrica.com · www.techrepublic.com · denar.mk · +2 more
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Google proposed an AI search opt-out plan to allow publishers to prevent content use in AI-generated summaries. www.timesnownews.com
- [DISPUTED] Manual actions under the site reputation abuse policy will no longer apply to users in the EEA as of August 30. medianet.at · regtechafrica.com · www.techrepublic.com · denar.mk · extradienst.at · +2 more
- [● 2 SOURCES] EU regulators are investigating the impact of Google's AI search features on the media market. www.ad-hoc-news.de · www.timesnownews.com
- [● 7 SOURCES] Google is adjusting its site reputation abuse spam policy within the European Economic Area. medianet.at · extradienst.at · regtechafrica.com · www.techrepublic.com · denar.mk · +2 more