A manual action, also known as a Google Penalty, is a punitive action taken against a website by a human reviewer. Manual actions result in the demotion or removal of the website or a portion of it from Google search results.

Manual actions are typically issued for non-compliance with Google’s webmaster quality guidelines and, most commonly, for attempting to manipulate search results.

Whenever a manual action is applied to a website, it will be visible in Google Search Console.

To have a manual action removed from a website, the underlying issue must be addressed, and a reconsideration request must be submitted.

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