Google has recently made quiet yet notable revisions to its manual action policies for Google News and Google Discover. Among these changes, the company removed sections on adult-themed content and artificial freshening while introducing new guidelines related to deceptive practices.
Overview of Changes
These updates, implemented between October 10 and November 27 last year, were observed by industry expert Gagan Ghotra. He noted that Google added specific policy violations focused on deceptive practices to its manual action framework for News and Discover.
Sections Removed
Two previous guidelines have been eliminated:
- Adult-themed content (applicable to Discover)
- Artificial freshening (applicable to both News and Discover)
Section Revised
The existing policy on hateful content underwent a slight adjustment in its description:
- Previously: “News and Discover policy violation: Hateful content”
- Updated to: “Hateful content (News and Discover)”
New Deceptive Practices Policies
Google introduced five additional sections addressing deceptive practices. These updates target various forms of misleading content and site behavior, including:
- Coordinated Deceptive Practices (News and Discover)
Sites that obscure or misrepresent their ownership or purpose fall under this violation. - Good Neighbor Policy (News and Discover)
Content that disguises the organization responsible for its creation or impersonates another entity is now prohibited. - Impersonation (News and Discover)
Misrepresentation of the person or organization providing the content is flagged as a violation. - Misrepresentation of Affiliation (News and Discover)
This policy targets content that obscures or misrepresents financial or editorial relationships. - Misrepresentation of Location (News and Discover)
Websites that conceal or falsify their country of origin also fall under deceptive practices.
These updates emphasize Google’s efforts to enhance transparency and maintain trust in its News and Discover platforms by addressing various forms of misinformation and deceptive content.