Google Strengthens Rules to Combat ‘Parasite SEO’ Techniques

Key Details

• Google has reinforced its policy against site reputation abuse to curb the practice known as “parasite SEO,” which involves using established domains to manipulate search rankings.
• Prominent publishers such as CNN, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal have experienced significant revenue losses due to penalties imposed on their affiliate sections by Google.
• The initiative started with manual actions, with future algorithmic updates set to enhance enforcement.

Google has initiated a significant crackdown on what is referred to in the SEO community as “parasite SEO” —a strategy where external companies create content on credible websites to artificially inflate their search rankings.

To combat this, the tech giant is actively applying its site reputation abuse policy, which aims at websites that allow third-party entities to take advantage of their domain authority. This action disproportionately affects the affiliate business models of major publishers, including CNN, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and Time, resulting in significant decreases in their online visibility.

The financial repercussions have been significant, with these publishers collectively facing an estimated revenue drop of $7.5 million. This decline is particularly pronounced in their affiliate business arms, like CNN Underscored, while their primary news services remain largely unaffected.

Initial enforcement started with manual actions, where Google communicated directly with affected sites via Search Console regarding identified violations. Many publishers have begun to respond by eliminating the problematic sections or tagging affected pages with no-index labels to minimize impact.

This crackdown marks a notable shift in the affiliate strategies for publishers, suggesting that those wishing to sustain their affiliate revenue streams may need to bring these activities in-house instead of relying on outsourced arrangements, which will require increased investment in resources and management.

Currently, Google’s enforcement relies on manual interventions, but the company aspires to roll out algorithmic updates in the future aimed at automating the detection and mitigation of site reputation abuses, although no specific timeline has been disclosed.

Source | Via Source&Images