Google stops demoting EU publishers under its spam policy from Sunday

From 30 August, Google will stop applying manual demotions under its site-reputation abuse policy to news publishers that host sponsored content in the 27 EU states, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. The policy itself remains unchanged worldwide, so algorithmic penalties or demotions in other regions may still apply. The adjustment aims to address a European Commission investigation under the Digital Markets Act, which could levy fines up to 10% of Alphabet’s global turnover.