New Google SPAM Policies and How to Avoid Problems

Indeed SEO world is experiencing another upheaval. Many website owners and online stores are wary of Google's new core algorithm update. But this time, it comes with an additional change.

 

On March 5th, Google announced through its official channels an update to its spam policies. Specifically, they have added 3 new ones.

 

Keep reading as I will explain what they are, their potential impact, whether or not they should concern you, and, if so, what you need to do to avoid penalties.

Just to recall the concept, we wll say that spam in SEO is not exactly what everyone associates with email, although it is not far off.

 

Spam is understood as the process by which search results pages are filled with URLs of low value, created with the aim of occupying organic positions unnaturally, displacing legitimate results.

 

In other words, spamming is creating pages that are only good for attacking a keyword, tricking the algorithm, and giving the user content that does not satisfy their search intent. Often, these landing pages solely aim to capture user data, redirect traffic, or display ads.

In order to keep the search engine genuinely useful for users, Google implemented spam filters years ago, penalizing websites created solely for search engines or with poor content and prioritizing relevant content.

 

We are talking about techniques like cloaking content from crawling, pirated content, hidden text, excessive keyword stuffing, so-called "link spam" (selling links, auto-generation, hidden links, links that force the keyword...), automatically generated traffic, copied content...

 

In 2022, they made adjustments to their ranking system, and based on the conclusions they have drawn, they believe this recent update will achieve a reduction of poor or non-original content results by up to 40%.

 

In addition to the existing spam policies, Google has added 3 new ones: expired domain abuse, site reputation abuse, and large-scale content abuse.

 

Let's look at them in detail to make it easier for you to identify them and, as much as possible, avoid violating Google's best practices.

On certain occasions, some people buy domains that have been previously used but not renewed. Once acquired, they use them to host their store or website.

 

This is done to "take advantage" of the authority of these domains, which often retain links from other sites and can help us climb rankings faster (as long as they are not penalized domains, it's important to check).

 

This is completely legitimate, and Google will not penalize a furniture store that has found the domain furnitureruiz.com available. Both companies are in the same niche, and therefore, there is thematic coherence in the links, and it can inherit that authority.

 

So what penalizes expired domain abuse? Simply, by using it in a way that tries to alter the results unnaturally.

 

Let me explain that with an example: if you find the domain furnitureonline.com, which has a good reputation, and you use it to sell concert tickets or homeopathy products, you are clearly violating spam policies and, consequently, will be penalized.

Google was already targeting generated content automatically when it sought to flood results with URLs of poor but keyword-optimized content (usually competitive).

 

Imagine a sunglasses store that, using some tool, generates URLs like:

 

 

Typically, this content was generated with a template or spun text. Basically, it followed a structure and provided little or nothing to the user.

 

Google's policy update changes the original meaning of the rule, or to be more precise, expands it. It now considers any large-scale content generation to be unnatural, whether generated manually or automatically.

 

This is largely due to the explosion of Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, Bard, and other alternatives. This content has become more sophisticated. It is still not relevant, but it looks more organic to the user's eye.

 

You might be wondering, then, if using AI penalizes SEO.

 

And the answer is no if you use it to rewrite content for your blog or product listings. But if the intention is to manipulate or alter search results in your favor, then you are susceptible to being penalized for spam.

This one may be a bit more ambiguous, but it also makes sense.

 

It is a policy whereby Google penalizes sites that have a certain authority within a niche or area of expertise and use their domain to host third-party content that is not aligned with the editorial line.

 

Let's go back to the examples. You have a blog in your online furniture store,, and someone offers you money to publish a series of articles on esotericism and divination. It is obvious that there is a fraudulent intention towards Google.

 

Although things get more complicated, it is not always that obvious. Now imagine that you are offered to publish an article on that same blog, an article written by a lamp brand, but you are not involved in it. You can also be a victim of this Google update.

 

If you are going to do something you are not 100% sure about, it is better to block indexing.

 

What about native advertising or collaboration articles with third parties? In that case, there should not be a problem, but it does not hurt to use the appropriate meta tags (here is everything you need to know about tagging sponsored or user-generated content).