Google's site reputation policy update: what changed, and how to keep your rankings

What Google announced

On Friday, 28 August 2026, the Google Search Quality team published a short post titled “Update to the Site Reputation Policy”. It said Google was adjusting its enforcement approach in the European Economic Area and clarifying the criteria it uses when applying the policy. The change took effect on 30 August 2026.

The same day, Google's documentation changelog recorded the update, and the spam policies page now calls it the site reputation policy (older posts call it “site reputation abuse”). Industry coverage linked the regional change to discussions with the European Commission, but Google's own post focuses on what changes for site owners, so that is what this article does too.

What the site reputation policy covers

The policy targets one specific tactic: publishing third-party content on a host site mainly because that host already ranks well, so the content ranks better than it could anywhere else. The host earned its reputation through its own first-party work; the third-party pages borrow it.

Google's own examples include an educational site hosting sponsored payday-loan reviews written by a third party, and a medical site hosting a “best casinos” page that has nothing to do with the rest of the site. In both cases the content is there for the host's ranking signals, not for the host's readers.

Just as important is what the policy does not cover. Google lists these as normal, acceptable uses of third-party content:

• wire services and press-release services;
• news publications syndicating news from other news publications;
• user-generated content such as forums and comment sections;
• columns, opinion pieces and other editorial content with close involvement from the host;
• advertorial content meant for the publication's own readers, and affiliate links or ad units that are handled appropriately.

That middle row matters. In November 2024 Google said its review of many cases showed that no amount of first-party involvement changes the third-party nature of such content. In other words, a licensing deal or light editorial sign-off is not a shield. The question Google asks is why the content is on your site.

What changed: inside vs outside the EEA

Before 30 August, a site reputation manual action worked the same everywhere: the affected section of the site was demoted in Google Search, while the rest of the site was untouched. Since 30 August, the effect depends on where the searcher is.

“Ranked on its own merits” is the part worth slowing down for. A section that is treated as a separate site no longer benefits from the main domain's reputation. If its pages only ranked because they sat on a strong domain, they are likely to fall anyway, just more gradually. So even inside the EEA, the practical outcome for borrowed-reputation content is the same: it stops riding on your site's strength.

This also matches something Google said back in 2024: it already has systems that try to recognise when a section of a site is independent of, or starkly different from, the main site, and treat it like a standalone site. The EEA change leans on that approach instead of a manual demotion.

The rest of 2026 in Google Search

The policy change did not arrive alone. If your traffic moved this year, it helps to line your Search Console graphs up against the confirmed dates before you change anything. Here is everything Google confirmed on its ranking history and documentation changelog that is most likely to matter to a small site.

Two things stand out. First, the September 2026 spam update was by far the longest spam rollout of the year, so if traffic dropped in late September or early October, compare those weeks carefully. Second, Google has not confirmed an October 2026 core update. Forum chatter is not a confirmed update; the Search Status Dashboard is the place to check.

Two smaller changes are worth knowing about too. In June Google confirmed that Search does not use llms.txt files, so they neither help nor hurt rankings. And since FAQ rich results are gone, an FAQ section is now purely for your readers. Keep the useful ones; do not expect a special snippet for them.

Who is affected (and who is not)

Most small business sites, shops and blogs that publish their own content will never touch this policy. It is aimed at a particular business model. You should take a closer look if any of these sound familiar:

• You rent out a folder or subdomain (for example coupons, casino, “best products” or loan pages) to a partner who writes and runs it.
• You accept paid articles from a network that places the same kind of content on many other sites.
• A section of your site covers topics unrelated to everything else you publish, and you did not write it.
• You are an agency or freelancer that places client content on high-authority third-party sites.

If none of these apply, the policy change itself will not hurt you. Your bigger 2026 risks are the general ones: the spam updates, the core updates, and thin or scaled content.

7 steps to keep your rankings

Whether or not you host third-party content, these steps protect you from this policy and from the spam updates around it. They take an afternoon for a small site.

1. Check the Manual actions report first

   In Google Search Console, open Security & Manual actions → Manual actions. “No issues detected” means no person at Google has acted against your site. If there is an action, jump to the manual action section below.

2. List every section you did not write

   Go through your site folder by folder. For each section written or run by someone else, note who produces it, who benefits from its traffic, and whether it matches what the rest of your site is about.

3. Ask the one question Google asks

   Would this content be on your site if your domain did not rank well? If the honest answer is “no, it is here for the search traffic”, treat it as a risk, whatever the contract says.

4. Fix it properly: improve, noindex or move

   Bring genuinely useful partner content under real editorial control and make it serve your readers. Otherwise, add noindex or remove it. If it has to live somewhere, Google's guidance is that a new domain with no established reputation is far less likely to be a problem.

   Do not just shift it to a subfolder or subdomain of the same site; Google says that can look like an attempt to get around the policy.

5. Compare traffic around the confirmed dates

   In Search Console's Performance report, compare the four weeks after 24 September with the four weeks before. Look page by page, not just at the site total. A drop on one section points to a specific cause; a drop everywhere points to something broader.

6. Clear the other spam-policy risks

   While you are auditing, check for the other patterns Google's spam policies name: mass-produced or scaled pages, expired-domain tricks, hidden text or links, and anything that hijacks the back button. If you show review stars, make sure no review is fake or secretly incentivised; Google added that to its review guidelines in July.

7. Keep publishing first-party work, and keep notes

   The safest ranking strategy has not changed: useful pages written for your own readers. Add a dated note whenever you change a section, so the next time traffic moves you can tell your change apart from Google's.

If you already have a manual action

A site reputation manual action is fixable. Google's own guidance gives a clear path:

1. Remove or noindex the violating content. Removing it from your site, or blocking it from indexing, deals with the cause.
2. Reply to the manual action. Noindexing alone does not lift it. Submit a reconsideration request in Search Console that explains what you changed.
3. If you moved the content, say so. Moving it also needs a reconsideration request. Moving it to another established site can create the same problem there.
4. Use mediation if it is offered. Google's August post says eligible sites can pursue mediation after a reconsideration request.

“Not all third-party content violates this policy.”Google Search Central blog, November 2024

Keep that line in mind. The goal is not to delete every guest post or partner page; it is to make sure nothing on your site is there only to borrow its reputation.

Questions and answers