Week in Review: Site Reputation Abuse Hits AP and TIME, While Netflix Powers Up Ads

Associated Press and TIME Fall Victim to Site Reputation Abuse?

In March, the Associated Press (AP) launched AP Buyline, an e-commerce site in partnership with Taboola, aiming to diversify its revenue with consumer recommendations on personal finance and other categories. 

Recent developments suggest that the initiative may have been the latest site hit by Google’s Site Reputation Abuse update. 

Screenshots shared by Glen Allsopp show that AP Buyline has seen a dramatic drop in search rankings, including for its own name.

TIME appears to have encountered similar challenges with its own Taboola partnership. Allsopp shared another screenshot showing how traffic to TIME’s e-commerce pages has also sharply decreased.