In every competitive niche, some sites may not adhere to or may bend Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If a direct competitor is gaining an unfair advantage this way, you can submit a spam report to Google to notify them of the violation.
Here’s how to effectively get Google’s attention with a spam report:
Make it Actionable
Spam reports are primarily processed manually. An experienced Google employee reviews the report and tries to assess the highlighted violation. Providing a detailed spam report is crucial, making it both actionable and considerate of the reviewer’s time.
Simply explaining why a competitor’s site needs scrutiny or what queries it might be ranking for is not sufficient. Clearly outlining violations, such as a site buying links that pass PageRank, or a site displaying different content to users and search engines, helps define the infractions clearly.
A site may violate various Google quality and/or technical guidelines. When reporting a violation, referencing the specific Google Webmaster Guidelines enhances the credibility of your report and makes for a more convincing case.
Provide Details
Every highlighted violation should be supported by replicable examples, such as specific URLs of pages linking with specified anchor text to an optimized landing page. While the more examples, the better, providing a few dozen should suffice.
The Google employee processing the report can then verify if any of the examples are indeed problematic and take action as necessary.
Get to the Point
An actionable spam report should exclude any irrelevant information. Except for a greeting, only an accurate description of the perceived violations is necessary.
Personal motivations for submitting the report or information about the individual or organization submitting it are irrelevant. Google focuses on maintaining high user satisfaction and avoiding manipulation, known as "black hat SEO."
Google does not concern itself with the identity of the report submitter or their reasons. Any extraneous information that does not assist Google in identifying and replicating the spam issue wastes everyone’s time and should be omitted.
Which Violations to Report
Any confirmed and significant violation of Google Webmaster Guidelines can be reported. However, certain violations are more likely to prompt action than others.
For instance, "black hat" tactics related to PageRank-passing link building are not only common but also more likely to trigger a detailed investigation and result in Google taking noticeable action.
Large competitor websites with minimal content might violate content guidelines by artificially inflating on-page signals. This may include adding keyword-rich, low-quality landing pages on a large scale. Looking for auto-generated, thin content or doorway pages is recommended.
Furthermore, the use of false or misleading structured data, which results in enhanced search results and better click-through rates due to enticing rich snippets with exceedingly positive ratings, can be easily spotted and reported. Google takes structured data spam seriously.
What to Expect
Crafting a compelling spam report requires effort and resources. Therefore, managing expectations regarding the potential outcomes of submitting a spam report is essential.
A competitor spam report is not an SEO magic bullet. Even if the violation is confirmed and action is taken, this might only be a temporary hindrance for the affected site.
Penalized sites can make amends and apply for reconsideration at any time. Once any violations have been addressed and corrected, Google may lift any manual penalties. Depending on the methods used that led to the penalty, the site may or may not regain its previous search engine ranking, even after successful reinclusion by Google.
Search visibility is constantly changing and depends on numerous factors, some beyond control. Even if an offending site’s position in Google drops significantly, any penalties will eventually expire.
Competitors may also find new ways to enhance their SEO signals, such as by improving page speed or engaging in legitimate outreach and link acquisition.
A successful competitor spam report does not automatically rectify an organization’s own SEO shortcomings, which may offer far more opportunities for improvement.
No Feedback Given
Finally, Google does not provide feedback on the success of spam reports, which can be frustrating.
They also do not seem to review websites associated with the account used to file the report. Keeping a clean SEO is always advisable, but past issues are not barriers to reporting a competitor’s violation of guidelines.
Despite these considerations, in highly competitive niches where every position is critical, maintaining vigilance over competitors’ adherence to SEO practices is essential.
Compared to conducting an in-depth, technical audit of your own site, submitting a spam report is a relatively low-effort task that is often worthwhile.
If needed, you can outsource the investigation and analysis process to a third-party specialist with a proven track record in uncovering Google Webmaster Guidelines violations.
