Google new spam policy: Expired domain abuse

Google announced the March 2024 core update that they claim is designed to improve the quality of Search by showing less content that feels like it was made to attract clicks, and more content that people find useful.

They also shared that Google has new spam policies to better handle the practices that can negatively impact Google’s search results.

One of the new spam policies involves expired domain name abuse.

Google: Expired domain abuse

“Expired domain abuse is where an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate Search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users. For example, someone might purchase a domain previously used by a medical site and repurpose that to host low quality casino-related content, hoping to be successful in Search based on the domain’s reputation from a previous ownership.

Expired domain abuse isn’t something people accidentally do. It’s a practice employed by people who hope to rank well in Search with low-value content by using the past reputation of a domain name. These domains are generally not intended for visitors to find them in any other way but through search engines. It’s fine to use an old domain name for a new, original site that’s designed to serve people first.”

Here is how google defines “Expired domain abuse”:

Expired domain abuse is where an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users. Illustrative examples include, but are not limited to:

• Affiliate content on a site previously used by a government agency
• Commercial medical products being sold on a site previously used by a non-profit medical charity
• Casino-related content on a former elementary school site

Will this affect prices on expired domains?

Some people think that this will affect prices on expired domains. Maybe this is true for some low quality domains that people only buy for the links.

Also Google doesn’t seem to include in its spam policy the expired domains that are bought by people that put up the exact same content of the expired domain. Maybe because that is very difficult to detect.