On 28 August 2026, Google announced that manual actions under its anti-parasite SEO policy would stop taking effect for searches made from the European Economic Area, from 30 August (official announcement). Under pressure from a DMA proceeding opened by the European Commission, this is the first time Google has applied spam rules that vary with the user's location: your visibility comparisons by market now need to take this into account.
The facts
- From 30 August 2026, manual actions for parasite SEO (site reputation abuse) no longer affect the rankings shown in the European Economic Area; outside the EEA, the penalty continues to apply to the affected section of the site (Google Search Central). Search Console notifications are maintained, reconsideration requests remain possible and eligible sites can then take a dispute to mediation.
- The United Kingdom, which is not part of the EEA, remains subject to the penalties without change, like the rest of the world; the area covered by the measure comprises the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein (Reuters via RTÉ).
- On 13 November 2025, the European Commission opened formal proceedings under the Digital Markets Act into how this policy treats news publishers (official press release); Alphabet faces a fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide turnover, and the Commission says it will monitor how the new approach is applied.
Why does this decision go beyond a technical SEO question?
The anti-parasite SEO policy, introduced in 2024 against the practice of hosting third-party content on a reputable site to capture its authority, remains in force worldwide, Europe included. What changes is the effect of the manual penalties, neutralised for the EEA only. The financial risk explains the speed of the move: a DMA proceeding can end in a fine of up to 10% of annual worldwide turnover. Google is giving ground reluctantly: the official post repeats its concern that an overly broad application of the DMA would prevent it from dealing with real threats to the integrity of its results. The 28 August switch marks a retreat in the face of the regulator rather than a spontaneous technical adjustment.
For a Luxembourg company active internationally, the reading now involves three distinct zones: the EEA, where the effect of the penalties disappears, the United Kingdom, where nothing changes, and the rest of the world, treated in the same way as the UK. Comparing a DACH or Benelux visibility benchmark with a UK benchmark without allowing for this distinction produces a distorted result. The timetable for a return to uniform ranking remains uncertain: Google says only that the affected section of a site may, over time, be separated in its systems and ranked independently, with no deadline given. Treating this asymmetry as a lasting fact would be a mistake: it stems from a proceeding that is still open, with no stable product commitment from Google behind it.
AIxH's view
This switch illustrates a dynamic we follow closely: regulatory compliance is reshaping the search terrain faster than algorithm updates themselves, as the referral of AI Overviews to the French competition authority showed on the French side. In the audits carried out by our SEO agency in Luxembourg, we systematically distinguish a stable product choice from a window opened by an ongoing proceeding, to avoid building a strategy on a footing that may change at the Commission's next decision. If your business extends beyond Luxembourg, a review of your positions market by market avoids this kind of unpleasant surprise.