Skip to content
The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossarySEO & ContentManual Action

SEO & Content

Manual Action

A penalty applied by a human Google reviewer when a site violates spam policies, reported in Google Search Console.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

A manual action is a penalty applied by a human Google reviewer when a site violates spam policies, reported in Google Search Console. It can demote specific pages or remove an entire site from results. After fixing the issues, such as unnatural links or thin content, site owners can submit a reconsideration request for review.