Google seems to be following through on a warning it gave about a year ago, with many publishers talking of receiving “manual actions” to do with their content.
Publishers in Google News and Google Discover have 10 policies their content needs to be in keeping with. Quite some time after the initial warning, a reported spike in Google’s “manual actions” (which are carried out by people working for Google who deem content to go against the policies) has left many publishers fretful about their content.
If the worst happens and you receive one of these notifications, don’t panic, but you need to act fast. Try to address the policy you’ve been told you’re in breach of, and ask Google to review it.
It doesn’t help, however, that Google doesn’t tell you exactly what you’ve done to fall foul of its policies, so the best advice is to try not to get hit by actions by ensuring your content ticks every box on the first time of asking.
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