EU Launches Secret Investigation into Google’s Controversial Site Reputation Policy—What Are They Hiding?
Ever wondered if Google might actually be playing favorites when it comes to news publishers showing sponsored or promotional content? Well, buckle up — Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is about to get grilled by the European Commission over exactly that. The EU’s antitrust watchdog is gearing up to launch a probe under the Digital Markets Act, aiming to clamp down on any sneaky tactics that penalize publishers for leaning on sponsored content — which, let’s be honest, a lot of media outlets rely on to keep the lights on. Google’s new spam policy, rolled out this year, targets what they call “site reputation abuse,” but critics say it might be a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What’s at stake? Fines reaching a staggering 10% of global revenue if they’re found bending (or breaking) the rules. So, could this investigation reshape how online content gets ranked and monetized? Hang tight — this one’s going to be juicy. LEARN MORE.
Google parent Alphabet is expected to face a new EU investigation over claims that it demotes news publishers in search results if they run sponsored or promotional content, a significant revenue source for many media outlets.
What’s happening. The European Commission, the EU’s top antitrust enforcer, is expected to announce the probe as soon as Thursday.
- The case falls under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law that bars tech “gatekeepers” from unfairly favoring their own services or penalizing others.
- Companies that break the rules can be fined up to 10% of their global revenue.
Site reputation abuse. Google’s enforcement against publishers is based on a spam policy introduced in March 2024 and updated in November 2024.
- The policy targets “site reputation abuse” – better known to SEOs as parasite SEO – which occurs when third parties post low-quality content on trusted sites to piggyback on their authority and manipulate Google rankings.
- Google said this kind of content can confuse or mislead users, and has taken manual action against sites hosting it.
- The company later updated the policy to state that even content created with first-party oversight can violate the rule if its main goal is to exploit a site’s ranking signals.
The report. EU readies fresh investigation into Google over news publisher rankings (registration required)
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