Manual actions vs algorithmic demotions
- A Google reviewer finds a violation
- Search Console sends you a message
- Pages drop or leave the results
- You fix it and request a review
- Google's systems detect spam alone
- You receive no message or notice
- Rankings fall for affected pages
- Recovery follows when systems reassess
Google says its systems catch most spam automatically. Reviewers issue manual actions only for cases they confirm by hand.
What triggers them
Google's spam policies list the practices that lead to penalties. On local business sites we see paid links and doorway city pages with swapped names most. Mass-produced content, hidden text and hacked pages follow. Structured data that misleads can also bring a manual action, which removes rich result eligibility.
How to tell if you have one
- Open the Manual actions report in Search Console.
- Check the Security issues report for hacking.
- Compare the drop date with Google's status dashboard updates.
- Look for site changes, like a redesign or new plugin.
- See which pages and searches lost traffic.
If the Manual actions report is empty, you do not have a manual action. The drop has another cause.
How to recover
For a manual action, fix every listed issue on every page, then request a review in the report. Explain what was wrong, what you changed and the result. Partial fixes do not earn a partial return.
Good example. A pest control site removes paid links it bought years ago, documents each removal and files a clear review request.
Bad example. The same site deletes a few links, files a one-line request and keeps buying new ones.
For drops without a penalty, see why rankings drop. Our SEO audit finds the cause and the fix.