Manual action
A manual action is what Google takes against a website when a person at Google decides its pages break Google's spam policies. Some or all of the site can then rank lower or drop out of Google's results. Site owners find it, and how to fix it, in the Manual actions report in Search Console.
Source: Search Console Help, Manual actions report, checked October 29, 2026
What Manual action means for your business
It's the official name for what people often call a Google penalty. Google's help page says its automated systems catch most spam on their own, and that its people also act by hand when they need to. The report only lists the actions those people take, so a drop caused by anything else won't show up there. Google also sends a message in Search Console when it takes one.
If your Google traffic fell, we'd open the report first. A green check means there's no manual action, and we'd look somewhere else. If there is one, Google lists the type of issue and the pages it covers, which can be one folder or the whole site. Google says to fix every affected page, since fixing only some won't earn a partial return. Then request a review that says what was wrong, what you changed and how it turned out.
A manual action can also come with a site you bought, and Google asks you to say so in your request. Reviews can take several days or weeks, longer for link problems, and Google asks you not to send another request until you hear back.
If a drop in Google traffic has you wondering what else to watch, how we measure search covers the numbers we'd check next.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview opened with Google's help page and an SEO blog, then added a tool glossary and YouTube. ChatGPT read the bare term as doing something by hand; asked about a Google manual action, it pointed only to Search Console.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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