Google will stop applying a controversial search-ranking penalty to users across much of Europe, a policy shift aimed at addressing European Union competition concerns and reducing the risk of another potentially large regulatory fine.
The Alphabet Inc. unit is changing how it enforces its “site reputation” rules within the European Economic Area, which comprises the European Union’s 27 member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Beginning Aug. 30, enforcement actions against websites under the policy will no longer affect search results shown to users in the EEA, the Journal reported. Google will continue applying the measures outside the region.
The change represents the latest effort by the U.S. technology giant to navigate increasingly aggressive European oversight of its search business. The European Commission had been examining whether Google’s treatment of publishers violated the Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s sweeping competition law for major technology platforms.
Google introduced its site-reputation policy in 2024 as part of an effort to combat attempts to manipulate search rankings, according to the Journal. The rules were designed to address situations in which third parties place material on established websites to benefit from the host site’s reputation and improve the material’s position in search results.
Under the previous approach, Google could suppress sections of a website — or entire pages — after a human reviewer concluded that the material violated the company’s spam policies, the Journal reported.
European regulators raised concerns that the system was also hurting legitimate publishers. The European Commission said Google had demoted websites operated by news organizations and other publishers when they carried material supplied by commercial partners, according to the Journal.
The commission subsequently opened an investigation into whether the practice breached the Digital Markets Act. Violations of the law can expose companies to penalties of as much as 10% of annual worldwide revenue and as much as 20% for repeat infringements.
Google has defended the underlying objective of the policy, arguing that search providers need tools to prevent publishers or third parties from exploiting the reputation of established domains to artificially improve rankings.
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Although enforcement actions will no longer directly influence EEA search results, Google may separate affected portions of a website within its systems so that those sections eventually rank independently of the broader site, according to the Journal.
Google said it remains concerned that an overly broad interpretation of the Digital Markets Act could restrict its ability to protect the integrity of search results. The company nevertheless said its revised approach would allow it to continue combating attempts to manipulate rankings, according to the Journal.
EU officials welcomed the change while signaling that regulatory scrutiny isn’t finished.
A European Union spokesman said the previous policy unfairly penalized publishers and other businesses using Google Search simply because they hosted third-party material, according to the Journal. The European Commission plans to monitor implementation of the revised system to determine whether it complies with the Digital Markets Act.
The adjustment comes during a difficult period for Google in its long-running battles with European regulators.
In July, the European Commission imposed €890 million in penalties on Google after finding that the company violated the Digital Markets Act by favoring some of its own services in search results and restricting app developers’ ability to direct customers toward alternative purchasing channels. The commission said Google must end the practices.
Google also recently lost its effort to overturn a multibillion-dollar European Union penalty stemming from agreements involving Android device manufacturers, according to the Journal.
The latest search-policy change could help Google avoid adding another penalty to that record. It also illustrates the growing influence of the Digital Markets Act over how the world’s largest technology companies design and operate products in Europe — even when the resulting rules differ from those applied to users elsewhere.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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