Late Friday afternoon, Google quietly updated its expanded site reputation abuse policy notice with a section of 9 FAQs. This includes what happens if you try to move the content, redirect the URLs and links, and much more.
I noticed this noticed this change late Friday when I saw the Google Search Liaison post on Bluesky saying, “We’ve just posted a FAQ that addresses that.”
This also verifies what I covered earlier about moving content hit by the site reputation abuse penalty and how that might backfire.
Here are those FAQs:
What is third-party content?
Third-party content is content created by a separate entity than the host site. Examples of separate entities include users of that site, freelancers, white-label services, content created by people not employed directly by the host site, and other examples listed in the site reputation policy.
Does the use of any third-party content violate the site reputation abuse policy?
No, having third-party content alone is not a violation of the site reputation abuse policy. It’s only a violation if the content is being published in an attempt to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals. Our policy page has examples of third-party content use that doesn’t violate the policy.
Does freelance content violate the site reputation abuse policy?
No, while freelance content is third-party content, freelance content alone is not a violation of the site reputation abuse policy. It is only a violation if there is ALSO an attempt to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals.
Does affiliate content violate the site reputation abuse policy?
No, the policy is not about targeting affiliate content. The documentation about the policy notes that affiliate links marked appropriately aren’t considered site reputation abuse.
What does it mean to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals?
This is when third-party content is being placed on an established site to take advantage of that site’s ranking signals — which the site has earned primarily from its first party content — rather than placing the content on a separate site that lacks the same signals.
If I noindex the content, does that mean the manual action automatically gets removed?
No. You still need to reply to the manual action in Search Console and explain that the content has been noindexed. We recommend doing this rather than letting the manual action remain against your site.
If I move content that’s received a manual action to a new location, will that resolve the site reputation abuse issue?
Maybe, but it depends on where you move it to:
- Moving content to a subdirectory or subdomain within the same site’s domain name: This doesn’t resolve the underlying issue and may be viewed as an attempt to circumvent our spam policy, which may lead to broader actions against a site in Google Search.
- Moving content to another established site: This will resolve the site reputation abuse issue for the site it was removed from, as the site reputation of that site is no longer being abused. However, it may introduce a site reputation abuse issue to the site the content is moved to if the established site has its own reputation and the third-party nature is unchanged.
- Moving content to a new domain: This is far less likely to be an issue if the new domain has no established reputation and you follow our spam policies.
No, having third-party content alone is not a violation of the site reputation abuse policy. It’s only a violation if the content is being published in an attempt to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals. Our policy page has examples of third-party content use that doesn’t violate the policy.
Does freelance content violate the site reputation abuse policy?
No, while freelance content is third-party content, freelance content alone is not a violation of the site reputation abuse policy. It is only a violation if there is ALSO an attempt to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals.
Does affiliate content violate the site reputation abuse policy?
No, the policy is not about targeting affiliate content. The documentation about the policy notes that affiliate links marked appropriately aren’t considered site reputation abuse.
What does it mean to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals?
This is when third-party content is being placed on an established site to take advantage of that site’s ranking signals — which the site has earned primarily from its first party content — rather than placing the content on a separate site that lacks the same signals.
If I noindex the content, does that mean the manual action automatically gets removed?
No. You still need to reply to the manual action in Search Console and explain that the content has been noindexed. We recommend doing this rather than letting the manual action remain against your site.
If I move content that’s received a manual action to a new location, will that resolve the site reputation abuse issue?
Maybe, but it depends on where you move it to:
- Moving content to a subdirectory or subdomain within the same site’s domain name: This doesn’t resolve the underlying issue and may be viewed as an attempt to circumvent our spam policy, which may lead to broader actions against a site in Google Search.
- Moving content to another established site: This will resolve the site reputation abuse issue for the site it was removed from, as the site reputation of that site is no longer being abused. However, it may introduce a site reputation abuse issue to the site the content is moved to if the established site has its own reputation and the third-party nature is unchanged.
- Moving content to a new domain: This is far less likely to be an issue if the new domain has no established reputation and you follow our spam policies.
No, the policy is not about targeting affiliate content. The documentation about the policy notes that affiliate links marked appropriately aren’t considered site reputation abuse.
What does it mean to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals?
This is when third-party content is being placed on an established site to take advantage of that site’s ranking signals — which the site has earned primarily from its first party content — rather than placing the content on a separate site that lacks the same signals.
If I noindex the content, does that mean the manual action automatically gets removed?
No. You still need to reply to the manual action in Search Console and explain that the content has been noindexed. We recommend doing this rather than letting the manual action remain against your site.
If I move content that’s received a manual action to a new location, will that resolve the site reputation abuse issue?
Maybe, but it depends on where you move it to:
- Moving content to a subdirectory or subdomain within the same site’s domain name: This doesn’t resolve the underlying issue and may be viewed as an attempt to circumvent our spam policy, which may lead to broader actions against a site in Google Search.
- Moving content to another established site: This will resolve the site reputation abuse issue for the site it was removed from, as the site reputation of that site is no longer being abused. However, it may introduce a site reputation abuse issue to the site the content is moved to if the established site has its own reputation and the third-party nature is unchanged.
- Moving content to a new domain: This is far less likely to be an issue if the new domain has no established reputation and you follow our spam policies.
noindex the content, does that mean the manual action automatically gets removed?
No. You still need to reply to the manual action in Search Console and explain that the content has been noindexed. We recommend doing this rather than letting the manual action remain against your site.
If I move content that’s received a manual action to a new location, will that resolve the site reputation abuse issue?
Maybe, but it depends on where you move it to:
- Moving content to a subdirectory or subdomain within the same site’s domain name: This doesn’t resolve the underlying issue and may be viewed as an attempt to circumvent our spam policy, which may lead to broader actions against a site in Google Search.
- Moving content to another established site: This will resolve the site reputation abuse issue for the site it was removed from, as the site reputation of that site is no longer being abused. However, it may introduce a site reputation abuse issue to the site the content is moved to if the established site has its own reputation and the third-party nature is unchanged.
- Moving content to a new domain: This is far less likely to be an issue if the new domain has no established reputation and you follow our spam policies.
Remember if you move content, you need to also submit a reconsideration request to remove the manual action.
If I move policy-violating content, can I redirect from the old site to the new site?
If you move content that received a manual action, you shouldn’t redirect URLs from the old site to the new site, as this may introduce the site reputation abuse issue again.
If I move policy-violating content, can I link from the old site to the new site?
If you link from the old site to the new site, make use of the nofollow attribute for those links on the old site.
If you link from the old site to the new site, make use of the
nofollow attribute for those links on the old site.Forum discussion at Bluesky.