Google Scraps EU Search Penalties as Regulators Threaten 10% Fine

Google will stop enforcing its site reputation abuse penalties for European users, a first-of-kind regional carve-out following a European Commission probe under the Digital Markets Act.

Google will stop applying site reputation abuse penalties for European Economic Area users from Aug. 30, after a European Commission probe threatened fines of up to 10 percent of global turnover.

"We welcome the repeal of this policy, which unfairly penalized publishers and other business users of Google Search," Thomas Regnier, spokesperson for the European Commission, told Reuters. The Commission will monitor how Google applies the new policy, he said.

The change covers the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Outside the EEA, manual actions will still directly affect search results for the affected portion of a site. Google introduced the site reputation abuse policy in 2024 to curb "parasite SEO," where third parties publish content on trusted domains to exploit their ranking signals, and began enforcing it in Europe in January 2025.

The carve-out marks the first time Google has applied different spam-policy outcomes based on searcher location. It follows a November 2025 Commission investigation finding the policy may breach the Digital Markets Act by demoting news media and other publishers carrying commercial partner content. Under the DMA, non-compliant gatekeepers face penalties of up to 10 percent of annual worldwide turnover.

Google said site owners will continue to be notified within Search Console when a manual action is applied, and can submit reconsideration requests or bring disputes to mediation. "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," the company said in its blog post.

The company said it remains committed to the policy because it ensures a more reliable search experience. "Our European users are no less frustrated by parasite SEO and other deceptive, pay-to-play tactics that degrade search results, and we stand by our Site Reputation Policy," a Google spokesperson said. "While we remain concerned about efforts to weaken our spam policies, we've agreed to make changes to our enforcement approach for users in Europe."

Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition at the European Commission, said in November the investigation aimed to ensure Google did not unfairly restrict businesses from promoting their own products and services. "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," Ribera said.

The policy reversal is the latest concession by Alphabet to European regulators, who have used the DMA to force changes to Google's search, app store and advertising practices. The Commission opened the probe in November 2025 after publishers complained that Google's enforcement penalized legitimate news outlets whenever they hosted sponsored commercial partner content.

For publishers, the change restores the ability to host commercial partner content without risking demotion in European search results, a shift that could support advertising revenue tied to sponsored sections. For Google, the carve-out preserves its ability to combat what it calls "parasite SEO" outside Europe while avoiding a DMA penalty that could reach into the tens of billions of dollars given Alphabet's roughly $350 billion in annual revenue.

The Commission said it will monitor Google's application of the new policy, leaving open the possibility of further action if enforcement falls short of the DMA's requirements.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.