Google changes EU spam policy to avert antitrust fine

Google will change its spam policy in Europe to address concerns that could have resulted in an antitrust fine, Reuters reported.

The policy targets parasite SEO, in which websites publish third-party pages to exploit the host site’s search-ranking signals. EU regulators said Google’s policy had demoted news media and other publishers when their sites included content from commercial partners.

Google said manual actions that demote sites will no longer apply in the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein from Aug. 30. The policy will remain unchanged outside the European Economic Area.

The European Commission opened an investigation under the Digital Markets Act after publishers raised concerns. Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the change means Google Search will no longer demote press publications solely for hosting third-party content, and regulators will monitor its application.

Companies that breach the DMA can face fines of up to 10% of their global annual turnover.