Automatically generated content
Content considered to be “automatically generated” is content that has been generated by programs, and not by humans.
Examples: text with key words but which has no meaning when read, text translated automatically by a tool without human proofreading and correction, text produced by automated techniques, etc.
Establishment of link systems
It is forbidden to set up a system of links which would have the sole purpose of promoting the positioning of a site in search engines.
Examples: buying or selling links, excessive link exchanges, use of automated techniques to create links, etc.
Creating low quality pages
These are web pages that have low quality content: the content is not very informative and is not necessarily of interest to the user.
Examples: automated content, affiliate pages, hijacked content, doorways, etc.
Use of cloaking techniques
These are deceptive techniques that offer Internet users content that is different from what is presented on search engines.
Example: an HTML page is presented by the site to the Google search engine but it is a page of images or Flash content that Internet users see. Keywords can also be presented only to search engines but not to Internet users, this is called “cloaking”.
Deceptive redirects
A user is redirected to a different URL than the one they really wanted. A change of site address or merging several pages into one, however, are not considered misleading redirects.
Example: Internet users on desktop access a normal page of a site while mobile users wanting to access this same page, find themselves on another domain containing spam.
Hidden texts or links
Some sites hide texts or links in the content of a page in order to be better positioned by search engines without impacting the visual of their page.
Examples: white text on a white background, text behind an image, text outside the screen using CSS, font size on 0, hidden link on a small character, etc.
Satellite pages
These are pages that are designed solely for the purpose of promoting the positioning of a site on Google. They cause the display of similar pages in the search results, which harms the Internet user’s search.
Example: several domain names which target regions or targeted cities but which direct Internet users to a single page.
Duplicate or diverted content
Duplicate or diverted content is content from one site that is used by another site without adding value to it.
Example: sites that just integrate photos or videos from another site without offering value-added content that is associated with this multimedia content.
Contribution to affiliate programs
Websites dedicated purely to affiliation are regularly sanctioned by Google because they do not have enough content with added value for the Internet user. The sites using affiliation and which present opinions, ratings or comparisons with other products are not penalized because they provide useful information to the Internet user.
Examples: the pages of a site which duplicate the product sheets of a merchant site by adding affiliate links.
Excessive use of keywords
The accumulation of keywords is often practiced in the form of lists or groups, and is only intended to improve its natural referencing. It has a negative effect on the user experience when browsing the site.
Examples: lists of cities to position oneself on geolocated queries, excessive repetition of keywords in a paragraph, list of telephone numbers, etc.
Creation of malicious pages
These are pages where operations are set up to download or launch files on a user’s terminal without requesting their consent.
Examples: installation of a Trojan horse, spyware or malware on a computer, modification of the home page of a browser, manipulation of the position of the content of a page, etc.
Improper tagging of rich snippets
Markup of content that is invisible to Internet users and markup of misleading or irrelevant content are sanctioned by Google. The content of a site’s page should match the content of structured data displayed on search engines.
Example: a site that presents structured data on travel offers to search engines but does not have a page that contains travel offers.
Sending automatic requests
Google prohibits sending automatic requests without its authorization because sending automatic requests involves the consumption of resources and the use of software to determine the ranking of a site or a web page.
