Google Ends Manual Penalties for Third-Party Content in EU Search Rankings

Google has revised its site reputation policy in the European Economic Area (EEA) following an investigation by the European Commission. The original policy, introduced in 2024, penalized sites hosting third-party content to prevent misuse of site reputation in search rankings.

The new policy will no longer apply manual penalties that affect search results for pages inside the EEA. Instead, affected sections will be allowed to rank independently.

This change aims to ensure fair treatment of publishers and will be monitored by the European Commission. The policy remains unchanged outside the EEA.