Google has quietly made significant updates to its manual action policies for Google News and Google Discover. These changes, implemented a few months ago, include the removal of specific sections, updates to existing guidelines, and the addition of five new policies targeting deceptive practices.

Digital marketer Gagan Ghotra first noticed the changes, stating, “Between October 10 and November 27 of last year, Google updated the Manual Actions for News and Discover to include new policy violations under Deceptive Practices.”

What’s Changed?

Here’s a breakdown of the updates:

Removed Sections:

1. Adult-Themed Content (Discover) – Policies around adult-themed content have been removed.
2. Artificial Freshening (News and Discover) – Guidelines addressing artificial attempts to make content appear updated were removed.

Updated Section:

• Hateful Content (News and Discover): This section was rebranded from “News and Discover Policy Violation: Hateful Content” to a more concise title while maintaining its focus on addressing harmful content.

New Sections on Deceptive Practices

Google has introduced five new policy areas to tackle deceptive practices more effectively:

1. Coordinated Deceptive Practices (News and Discover): Targeting sites that misrepresent their ownership or purpose.
2. Good Neighbor Policy (News and Discover): Addressing content that impersonates or hides the identity of its creators.
3. Impersonation (News and Discover): Penalizing content that misrepresents individuals or organizations.
4. Misrepresentation of Affiliation (News and Discover): Focused on sites that obscure financial or editorial relationships.
5. Misrepresentation of Location (News and Discover): Flagging content that conceals or falsifies its country of origin.

Why This Matters

If you’re a content creator or publisher, these updates are critical to your site’s visibility and performance on Google Search, News, and Discover. Manual actions can severely impact your rankings and traffic.

Although these changes have been in effect for some time, it’s essential to:

• Familiarize yourself with the updated guidelines.
• Regularly review your content to ensure compliance.
• Stay informed about potential policy shifts to avoid penalties.

A proactive approach to policy adherence can save your site from the detrimental effects of manual actions, ensuring your content reaches its intended audience.

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