On August 28, 2026 Google announced that it will no longer enforce the Site Reputation Policy within the European Economic Area. Since August 30, 2026 a manual action under this policy no longer takes effect for users searching inside the EEA. Outside the EEA it remains unchanged.
- According to Google, the trigger was its discussions with the EU Commission in the ongoing DMA proceedings. Reuters reports that the Commission welcomes the step and will monitor how the new approach is applied.
- What is withdrawn is the effect of the manual action. The algorithmic part remains: Google can still separate an affected section so that it ranks independently from the rest of the domain.
- What counts is the location of the searcher, not the location of the website. A German domain with a manual action stays demoted for users searching outside the EEA.
- Google’s post draws no distinction by sector. It also contains no explicit clarification for affiliate and iGaming structures outside the news segment.
On May 6, 2026, Bloomberg and Reuters reported that Google submitted a remedies offer to the EU Commission. Two days later, EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier stated, according to Reuters, that the offer was “simply not strong enough.” The formal DMA proceedings that the Commission initiated against Google in November 2025 thus remain open.
This article summarizes what is publicly known about the proceedings and the remedies offer, explains the policy background, and identifies the open questions.
Background: The DMA Proceedings Against Google
The following timeline is based on official Commission communications and media reports:
- March 5, 2024: Google introduces three new spam categories with the March 2024 Core Update, including Site Reputation Abuse. Enforcement begins: May 5, 2024.
- May 2024: First manual actions are publicly documented. According to visibility analyses by SEO analysts Glenn Gabe and Lily Ray, CNN Underscored, Forbes Advisor, and WSJ Buyside, among others, lose organic visibility.
- November 19–20, 2024: Google updates the policy. According to contemporaneous reporting by Search Engine Roundtable, Google signals that even editorial involvement of the publisher in third-party content does not automatically change the SRA evaluation.
- November 13, 2025: The EU Commission opens a formal DMA investigation against Google. Stated rationale: “Indications that Google, based on its ‘site reputation abuse policy’, is demoting news media and other publishers’ websites and content in Google search results when those websites include content from commercial partners.” The European Publishers Council is among the complainants according to reports.
- May 6, 2026: According to Bloomberg and Reuters, Google submits a remedies offer to the EU Commission. The full text was not published.
- May 8, 2026: EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier states, according to Reuters: “The reality for now is that solution is simply not strong enough.” According to reports, Google is given the opportunity to improve its offer.
- August 28, 2026: Google announces in the Search Central Blog that it is adjusting enforcement of the policy within the European Economic Area. Reuters reports that Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier welcomes the step.
- August 30, 2026: The announced change took effect. Since then, manual actions under the Site Reputation Policy no longer apply for users searching inside the EEA.
The legal basis is the Digital Markets Act (DMA), specifically Articles 6(5) and 6(12). These require designated gatekeepers – Google is one of seven – to provide fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory access conditions to business partners. EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera stated in the EU press release: “We are concerned that Google’s policies do not allow news publishers to be treated in a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory manner in its search results.”
According to Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 (Digital Markets Act), the EU Commission may impose fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue for violations of obligations under Articles 5, 6, and 7; for repeat offenses, the range increases to up to 20%.
What the Site Reputation Abuse Policy Covers
Google’s official definition from the Spam Policies for Google Web Search: “Site reputation abuse is the practice of publishing third-party pages on a site in an attempt to abuse search rankings by taking advantage of the host site’s ranking signals.”
In the November 2024 update communication, Google specified the target as “very low-value, third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight”. According to Google’s official FAQ communications, affiliate content does not automatically violate the policy; what matters is the context and primary purpose of the content.
The EU Commission countered in its November 13, 2025 press release that the policy impairs “a common and legitimate way for publishers to monetise their websites and content.” From the Commission’s perspective, the question is whether Google’s policy application sufficiently reflects the distinction it describes in practice.
The Black Hat patterns in the iGaming sector that shaped this enforcement stance are documented in the post on black-hat SEO in gambling.
Google’s Remedies Offer: What Is Known – and What Is Not
The most detailed publicly available description of the offer comes from TheNextWeb (May 6, 2026): “The proposals indicate that the company is willing to adjust how the site reputation abuse policy is applied to news domains, and to make the policy’s effect on publisher pages more transparent.” Reuters reports the offer includes “amendments to its anti-spam policies” – plural.
What is known from media reports:
- An adjusted application of the SRA policy specifically for news domains is apparently part of the offer.
- Greater transparency about how the policy affects publisher pages is also reportedly included.
- Reuters reported that Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier stated on May 8, 2026 that the solution was not strong enough.
What is not known:
- The full content of the offer.
- Whether and how an adjustment for affiliate sites outside news domains would apply.
- Whether an adjustment would be limited to the EU market or apply globally.
- The outcome of the next procedural step.
Update of August 28, 2026: Google Stops Enforcing the Policy in the EEA
The open state of proceedings this article has described since May is now settled on one point. On August 28, 2026 Google published the post “Update to the Site Reputation Policy” in the Search Central Blog. The decisive sentence names the trigger directly: “Following discussion with the European Commission, we are adjusting our enforcement approach within the European Economic Area (EEA) and clarifying the criteria we consider when applying the policy.”
What changed on August 30, 2026:
- For users inside the EEA, a manual action under this policy no longer takes effect: “For users inside the EEA, the impact of the manual action won’t apply.”
- For users outside the EEA the previous procedure remains: “For users outside the EEA, a manual action regarding our site reputation policy will directly affect search results for the portion of the site affected. As before, the rest of the site won’t be affected.”
- The notification stays: “Site owners will continue to be notified within Search Console when a manual action is applied.” The reconsideration request remains available, and eligible sites can subsequently bring disputes to mediation.
- The algorithmic part is untouched: “The affected section of the site may be separated in our systems so that, over time, it ranks independently from the rest of the site.”
| What | Users searching inside the EEA (since Aug. 30, 2026) | Users searching outside the EEA |
|---|---|---|
| Manual action affects rankings | no | yes, for the affected portion of the site |
| Notification in Search Console | yes | yes |
| Reconsideration request available | yes | yes |
| Algorithmic separation of the section | yes | yes |
Own presentation based on the Google blog post of August 28, 2026. What counts is the location of the searcher, not the location of the domain.
That last quote is the point most short reports on this step leave out. What is withdrawn is the effect of the manual action, not the ability of Google’s systems to treat a section of a site as its own. Anyone reading this as parasite SEO being consequence-free in the EEA again is reading past that sentence.
Google itself does not frame the step as a change of mind: “While we remain concerned that an overbroad application of the DMA could prevent us from addressing real threats to the integrity of our search results, we believe this approach enables us to combat attempts to manipulate search results for our users.”
The Commission counts it as a success. The same spokesperson who called the May offer insufficient is now quoted by Reuters as saying: “We welcome the repeal of this policy, which unfairly penalised publishers and other business users of Google Search.” And: “Thanks to the DMA, Google Search will no longer demote press publications solely for hosting third-party content.” The Commission intends to keep monitoring how the new approach is applied.
What this means for affiliate and iGaming structures. Google’s post draws no distinction by sector. It speaks throughout of “manual actions applied under our site reputation policy”, without narrowing this to news domains. On that wording the EEA exception applies to any site carrying such a manual action. That is my reading of the text and not a Google statement about sectors. The post contains no explicit clarification for affiliate structures outside the news segment.
Context: Relevance for Publishers and SEO
Based on the Commission communication of November 13, 2025, the proceedings primarily target news publishers and publishers integrating commercial partner content. CNN Underscored, Forbes Advisor, and WSJ Buyside are among the documented affected sections based on public reporting and visibility analyses by SEO analysts; the EU Commission does not name specific domains in its communication.
From my perspective as a practitioner in the iGaming SEO space, models like Clickout Media illustrate the scaling pattern that the SRA policy targets: domains with established reputation capital repurposed for AI-based iGaming affiliate content. According to publicly documented reports – including Press Gazette (2024) and a further investigation from March 2026 – Clickout Media is a public part of the industry debate on this topic. No legal assessment of these practices is intended here.
The possible implications for publisher models and affiliate structures are currently open. The proceedings are regarded by industry observers as an ongoing review with potential relevance to the sector. For strategies in the Parasite SEO space that hold up regardless of the outcome, see the Parasite SEO 2026 overview.
What to Watch
- EU Commission press releases at digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu – the only reliable primary source on the status of proceedings. Partially fired: as of August 31, 2026 there is a spokesperson statement via Reuters, but no formal communication closing the proceedings.
- Google Search Central Blog, “Spam Policies” section – policy changes are officially communicated there. This signal fired on August 28, 2026: the post “Update to the Site Reputation Policy” announces the EEA exception. Before that, the March 2026 Spam Update explicitly excluded Site Reputation Abuse.
- Visibility of historically affected sections – CNN Underscored, Forbes Advisor, WSJ Buyside via Sistrix or Semrush. Measurable visibility changes, particularly in the EU index, would be a signal.
- Manual action reports in Search Console – more frequent reconsideration decisions in the publisher segment would be an early indicator. New since August 30, 2026: the notification still appears, its effect inside the EEA does not. Seeing an action in your account should therefore no longer be read as a visibility loss inside the EEA.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the EU Commission investigating in the proceedings against Google?
According to its November 13, 2025 communication, the EU Commission is investigating whether Google’s application of the Site Reputation Abuse Policy violates the Digital Markets Act. The focus is on whether Google disadvantages news publishers in search results when their sites include content from commercial partners.
What does Google’s remedies offer contain?
The full text was not published. According to TheNextWeb and Reuters, Google reportedly offered an adjusted policy application for news domains and greater transparency. Reuters reported that Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier stated on May 8, 2026 that the solution was not strong enough.
Does the offer mean the Site Reputation Abuse Policy is being abolished?
No. The policy remains in place and is enforced unchanged outside the European Economic Area. On August 28, 2026 Google announced that manual actions under this policy have no longer taken effect for users searching inside the EEA since August 30. The algorithmic part remains in force there as well: Google can still separate an affected section so that it ranks independently from the rest of the domain.
Is affiliate content generally affected by the policy?
According to Google’s official FAQ communications, affiliate content does not per se violate the policy. What matters according to Google is whether third-party content primarily serves to exploit the ranking signals of an established domain without providing independent editorial value.
When can a decision be expected?
The point of dispute is effectively settled with Google’s announcement of August 28, 2026: Reuters reports that Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier welcomes the step and that the Commission will monitor how the new approach is applied. A formal communication closing the proceedings was not available as of this article’s status date. No end date has been publicly communicated.
Do the proceedings also affect iGaming or affiliate structures outside news domains?
Based on current Commission communications, the proceedings primarily target publisher and news domains. Other structures are not explicitly addressed in published Commission communications. Google’s announcement of August 28, 2026 in turn draws no distinction by sector, but it does not explicitly clarify affiliate structures outside the news segment either. A conclusive assessment cannot be derived from this.
Does a manual action for site reputation abuse still take effect in Germany?
Since August 30, 2026 it no longer does for users searching inside the European Economic Area, which includes Germany. For users searching outside the EEA it applies unchanged to the affected portion of the site. What counts is the location of the searcher, not the location of the domain. The notification in Search Console still appears, and the algorithmic part of the policy remains in force.
Conclusion
The EU Commission’s DMA proceedings against Google are examining whether the specific application of the Site Reputation Abuse Policy is compatible with gatekeeper obligations. According to the Commission communication of November 13, 2025, the proceedings primarily target publisher and news domains and their monetization models through commercial partners. Whether and to what extent iGaming affiliate structures would be affected by a possible outcome cannot be conclusively assessed at this stage and cannot be derived from current Commission communications.
Google’s remedies offer of May 6, 2026 was reported by Reuters on May 8 as assessed to be insufficient. Three and a half months later Google delivered what the Commission wanted: on August 28, 2026 the company announced that it is adjusting enforcement within the European Economic Area, effective since August 30. That answers the question of scope which this article still had to list as open in May. It is regional, not global.
Two limitations remain, and they are the reason why “Google scraps the policy” does not describe what happened. First, the exception applies only to users searching inside the EEA; the same domain stays demoted for users searching outside it. Second, the withdrawal covers the manual action alone. The algorithmic part remains: Google can still separate a section of a site so that it ranks independently from the rest of the domain. Whether that shows up as measurable movement in the EU index can be seen at the earliest in the weeks after August 30, 2026.
