German media company ActMeraki has filed a complaint with EU antitrust regulators over Alphabet-owned Google’s recent crackdown on practices aimed at manipulating its search algorithm.
The company has urged the European Commission to take swift action, claiming that Google’s policy unfairly penalizes legitimate websites and distorts competition.
ActMeraki, previously known as Meraki Group GmbH, raised concerns over Google’s “site reputation abuse” policy introduced in March last year. The policy targets the practice of leveraging a high-ranking host site to publish third-party content in order to boost visibility, an approach widely referred to as “parasite SEO.”
The complaint aligns with a broader industry concern, echoing a joint appeal submitted by the European Publishers Council, the European Newspaper Publishers Association, and the European Magazine Media Association. In a letter issued this week, these groups accused Google of using its dominant position to favor its own services and diminish the visibility of competitors.
“Google continues to unilaterally set the rules of doing business online in its own favour, preferencing its own commercial offerings and depriving competing service providers of any visibility,” said ActMeraki’s legal representative, Thomas Hoppner.
In response, Google defended its policy, stating that it was shaped by user feedback aimed at improving search quality. A company spokesperson said the crackdown on site reputation abuse addresses concerns about low-quality third-party content misleading users.
Google also noted that its enforcement includes a structured review and reconsideration process for affected websites.
While the European Commission has yet to publicly respond, publishers across several countries including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain have reported significant declines in search rankings since the policy’s enforcement began in January. They argue that Google’s opaque penalty system and inconsistent application of the rules are harming traffic and revenue streams for content providers across Europe.
