Google claims that the contentious policy at the heart of the EC’s latest DMA investigation is in fact part of its efforts to comply with the DSA
The EC is investigating how Google ranks search results of media organisations that host promotional content
On 13 November 2025, the EC opened an investigation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Google’s search results policies. The proceeding, which is the second pending investigation into Google under the DMA, is focused on whether the firm’s ‘site reputation abuse policy' is unfairly demoting news publisher content in search results. Specifically, the EC alleges that Google appears to be deprioritising content from media outlets that host promotional content from commercial partners, which is a common practice used by publishers to monetise their websites and content. Under the DMA, Google is required to set fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions of access to publishers' websites through its search services. While the EC states that it aims to complete this proceeding within 12 months, it has exceeded that timeline for all of the DMA investigations it has opened to date.
Google’s site reputation abuse policy was developed to stem the tide of scam and spam search results
Google introduced its site reputation abuse policy in March 2024 in response to the growing use of “parasite search engine optimisation (SEO)”, i.e. the practice of cross-listing low-quality content on higher quality outlets and sites with greater prominence rankings in search results. The platform stated that any sponsored, advertising, partner or other third-party pages that offer limited value to users and have little editorial oversight from the hosting site would result in demoted search results for the hosting site moving forward. Google noted that not all third-party content would be impacted, specifically referencing advertorial content, “native advertising” and pages including affiliate links as unaffected. In contrast, the platform identified sponsored reviews and some freelance content arrangements as examples of where the primary aim is to capitalise on the hosting site’s reputation and potentially mislead consumers, which violates the policy. In a statement responding to the DMA investigation, Google suggested that it had worked with the EC to develop compliance measures under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to limit the spread of scams over its services, suggesting – though not directly stating – that its development of, and subsequent updates to, its site reputation abuse policy are part of that effort.
The EC and European publishers are warning of the policy’s harm to the financial stability of media outlets
The site reputation abuse policy is being reviewed against Article 6(12) and Article 6(5) of the DMA, which require fair terms of access for business users of Google’s services and fair terms in search result ranking. According to the EC, Google’s decision to deprioritise search results that feature promotional content may impede publishers' freedom to conduct legitimate business and innovate in the monetisation of their site. The investigation echoes a complaint lodged by European media associations, including the European Publishers Council, in April 2025 regarding Google’s policy changes. The complaint alleges that the firm has acted through “manual penalty adjustments and inconsistent policy enforcement” to systematically diminish the reach of European media outlets. Since Google began enforcing the policy in January 2025, the complaint states that media outlets in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, among other countries, have experienced significant declines in search rankings. Given the warning issued by these organisations of the threat Google’s policy poses to the financial sustainability of European journalism, the EC’s job in its investigation becomes balancing the trust and safety of users in the context of online safety against the preservation of competition and innovation under its digital competition framework.
