What is a Google Penalty?
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26/09/2025
A Google Penalty, also known as a Manual Action, is a punishment applied by Google when a human reviewer determines that a website has violated Google’s Search Spam Policies. When this happens, your site (or parts of it) can lose rankings dramatically or be completely removed from Google’s search results.
Manual Action Reasons
User-Generated Spam
User-Generated Spam as a Manual Action reason means that Google has determined your website is allowing spam content created by users, and that you, as the site owner, are not controlling or moderating it properly.
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Manual Action vs Algorithmic Penalty
| Type | Description | Human Review? | Visibility in Google Search Console |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual Action | Applied by Google’s spam team | Yes | Yes |
| Algorithmic Penalty | Caused by updates like Helpful Content, Spam, and Core Updates | No | No |
Can I See Google Penalty on Search Console?
Yes, you can see a manual penalty on Search Console Manual Action part.
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