Site reputation abuse (parasite SEO)

What Site reputation abuse (parasite SEO) means for your business

Content from outside writers doesn't break the policy on its own. Google lists what's fine: press release and wire services, syndicated news, forums and comment sections, opinion columns, sponsored pages meant for the site's own readers, and affiliate links marked the right way. What it targets is content placed mainly to rank on the host's name.

Google's policy page now spells out what a review looks at: whether the host had enough input and editorial control for the pages to be part of the site, whether they look and read like the rest of it, who's named as the author, and whether the same pages appear on other sites. Google's 2024 post said adding noindex doesn't lift a manual action on its own. Since August 30, 2026, a manual action under this policy only affects results shown outside the European Economic Area. Inside it, Google says the pages may be treated as separate from the main site and, over time, ranked on their own.

If a vendor offers to put a page about you on a big news or college site so it ranks on that site's name, that's the setup this policy describes, and the page can drop out when Google acts. We'd put the effort into your own site and into coverage from sources that chose to write about you. If someone is pitching you placements like that and you'd like a second opinion, a plain read on what will hold up in search is something we're glad to give.

Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms