Here’s how to directly report spam sites to Google

Abner Li | Jun 14 2023 - 10:40 am PT

Many nefarious parties try to manipulate Search to drive more traffic to spam, low-quality, and deceptive websites, and Google is now offering a better way to directly report them.

Google’s “improved” Search Quality User Report (requires Account sign-in) starts by having you enter a page URL with the ability to add other related links. You then specify “What’s wrong with this page?” With six high-level options and the ability to drill down afterwards with “what exactly happened” choices:

The page displays spammy content: “Pages with irrelevant or useless content that exploit search engine algorithms to appear as relevant results.”
- Scraped content Automatically generated content, Keyword stuffing, Thin affiliate pages, Hacked pages, User-generated spam, Other, Unsure
The page engages in spammy behavior: “Pages that engage in abusive behavior to manipulate search engines’ ranking.”
- Cloaking and sneaky redirects, Hidden text and links, Doorway pages, Other, Unsure
The page is deceptive: “Pages that do not deliver promised online or real-life services with intent to mislead or defraud the user.”
- Scam and fraud, Misleading functionality, Other, Unsure

The page is low quality: “Poorly written or designed page[s] often created in bulk to attract clicks from users rather than to [genuinely] inform or [entertain].”
The page contains paid links: “Pages that contain/receive unnatural, artificial, deceptive, or manipulative inbound or outbound links.”
- Form to enter the “link buying site”
Other: “Any other search abuse or exploitative SEO strategy not mentioned above.”

Google will also let you enter the “exact query that shows the problem,” while there’s an open text field to share other details.

User feedback helps us identify where our automated spam detection systems may be missing coverage, and is also used to improve our ranking algorithms. Let’s take a look at some of our new form’s features.

After sending a spam report, Google will send you a confirmation email.