Google has confirmed that algorithmic actions to circumvent site reputation have not yet been launched, and will only affect specific content.

Pain Points

1. Google has not initiated any algorithmic action to circumvent site reputation.
2. Once this is launched, the action will affect only the copyrighted content, not other sites.

Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, confirmed that the search engine has not initiated algorithmic actions to target fraud by a site's reputation.

This clarification addresses suspicions within the SEO community that the traffic decline currently occurring is related to Google's previously announced policy update.

Sullivan is saying no updates have been made.

Lily Ray, an SEO expert, shared a screenshot on Twitter showing that traffic to the Groupon website has dropped significantly since May 5.

Ray suggests that this is evidence that Google has introduced algorithmic penalties for sites that violate his company's site reputation abuse policy.

But soon, Sullivan also intervened, saying:

“We have not gone live with algorithmic actions on site reputation abuse. I well imagine when we do, we’ll be very clear about that. Publishers seeing changes and thinking it’s this — it’s not — results change all the time for all types of reasons. Read more”

Sullivan also added that when this action is rolled out, it will affect only specific content, not entire websites.

This is a significant difference because it suggests that if a few pages of a site are manually penalized, the rest of the domain can rank normally.

Previous background on Google's Site Reputation Abuse Policy.

Last year, Google announced a new policy to crack down on "site reputation abuse".

This reflects a situation where third-party content is published on reputable domains where it is not monitored closely or contributes less to the main site.

Examples include sponsored posts, commercials, and other content that is slightly or completely separate from the main purpose of the site.

Under the new policy, Google is taking manual action against abusive pages and intends to include algorithmic detection.

(Also Read: Why Companies Can't Afford to Ignore Online Marketing)

What does this mean for Digital Marketers and SEOs?

Google has not yet rolled out any algorithmic updates related to site reputation abuse, but SEOs are increasingly being alerted due to manual actions.

Those who rely on driving traffic based on officially sponsored content or other posts should audit their sites and remove any possible policy violations.

Sullivan's proof has not been algorithmically transformed, it can provide temporary comfort.

In addition, his statement also reminded us that fluctuations in the main rankings can happen at any time due to a variety of reasons, not just the presentation of specific policies.

FAQ

Will Google's other Vale algorithm actions impact entire websites or specific content?

When Google starts taking algorithmic actions to target site reputation abuse in Ant, these actions will target specific content, rather than the entire website.

This means that if a few pages are found to be in violation, only those pages will be affected, and the rest of the site will continue to rank as normal.

What is the context of the recent traffic decline seen in the SEO community?

Google says that currently the decline in coupon sites cannot be linked to any algorithmic actions of site reputation abuse. We can differentiate between trends in traffic and are not always linked to any particular algorithm update.