Forbes Advisor Hit by Google Penalty Over Affiliate Practices

Forbes Advisor, a major player in the personal finance SEO space, has reportedly suffered a significant ranking drop following a potential manual action by Google. Speculation suggests the penalty is tied to violations of Google’s recently enforced site reputation abuse policy, which targets manipulative affiliate content hosted by third-party entities.

Lars Lofgren, Chief Growth Officer at Stone Press, had highlighted concerns about Forbes Advisor in a September 18th blog post. Lofgren revealed that a third-party company, Marketplace Platforms Limited, manages Forbes Advisor independently from Forbes, using the brand to run a large-scale affiliate business across multiple countries. The business, while highly profitable, has drawn criticism for potentially violating Google’s affiliate content rules.