Google Dials Back Search Ranking Penalties Amid EU Scrutiny

Google has made a significant change to its search-ranking policy in Europe. The company will stop applying a penalty to websites within the European Economic Area (EEA) that violate its 'site reputation' rules. This shift is aimed at addressing concerns from European Union regulators and reducing the risk of another large regulatory fine.

Google introduced its site-reputation policy in 2024 to combat attempts to manipulate search rankings. The company argued that it needed tools to prevent publishers or third parties from exploiting the reputation of established domains to artificially improve rankings.

However, European regulators raised concerns that the system was also hurting legitimate publishers. The Digital Markets Act prohibits companies like Google from demoting websites operated by news organizations and other publishers when they carry material supplied by commercial partners.

The change will take effect on August 30, but enforcement actions against websites under the policy will no longer affect search results shown to users in the EEA. Google may still separate affected portions of a website within its systems so that those sections eventually rank independently of the broader site.