EU opens an antitrust probe into Google's anti-spam and site reputation abuse policy, assessing DMA compliance and impact on publishers. Fines could reach 10%.
© B. Naumkin
The European Commission has opened a new antitrust investigation into Google — this time over its anti-spam policy and what it describes as site reputation abuse. According to Reuters, complaints from European publishers have put the company at risk of a hefty penalty that, under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), could reach up to 10% of its global annual turnover.
Since March of last year, Google has been tightening rules against so-called parasitic SEO, where websites host third-party material to piggyback on a main domain’s authority and climb higher in search results. As the tactic spread, Google moved against it with its site reputation abuse policy.
Brussels, however, points to a worrying side effect. Commission monitoring indicates that Google has been systematically demoting media and publisher articles whenever affiliate content appears. As a result, outlets are losing one of their legitimate monetization tools — a risk that, in the regulator’s view, could cut off critical income at a moment when the industry is already under pressure. The line between robust anti-spam enforcement and economic strain on newsrooms looks precariously thin here.
EU digital policy commissioner Teresa Ribeiro said the bloc is concerned about possible discrimination against news publishers and intends to examine whether Google is meeting the DMA’s requirements for fair and non-discriminatory treatment. That stance effectively puts the onus on Google to show its filters are neutral and proportionate.
Google firmly disagrees. Pandu Nayak, Google Search’s chief scientist, wrote that the probe could worsen the quality of search results and that the company’s rules are aimed solely at combating what it considers manipulative content. He also emphasized that a German court has already found Google’s policy lawful and justified. It’s a useful argument for the company, though EU scrutiny often charts its own course.
The inquiry is only just beginning, and if the Commission ultimately finds against Google, the company could face one of the largest fines in the history of European antitrust regulation. The outcome may well define how platforms police SEO spam without undercutting publishers’ ability to earn.