A Google penalty has a negative impact on a website’s search engine rankings due to violations of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. These penalties can be imposed algorithmically or manually by Google’s quality raters. Algorithmic penalties occur when updates to Google’s search algorithms, target specific practices deemed harmful, like low-quality content or unnatural link building. Websites affected by these changes may experience a drop in their visibility on search results pages. Manual penalties are applied after human reviewers assess a site and determine it violates guidelines, often related to spammy behaviour, deceptive practices, or manipulative SEO tactics. When a manual penalty is issued, the website owner receives a notification via Google Search Console detailing the nature of the violation.
