# Cloaking Cloaking means serving different content or URLs to Google than to people. Google treats it as spam. If you run a small site, avoid anything that could look like bait and switch. Updated 2026-09-14 · Source: https://porteur.ai/glossary/cloaking ## What counts as cloaking Cloaking is intentional mismatch: Googlebot gets one thing, users get another. Examples: a text‑heavy page for Google, but an image or thin page for visitors. Or sending Google to /guide while users are redirected to /signup. Google’s spam systems, including SpamBrain, target it. Spam updates roll out and can hit the whole site, not just one URL. A manual action can also be applied after human review. ## What does not count as cloaking - A paywall that uses the paywalled content markup, and shows the same headline, intro and structured data to Google and users. - Responsive design that adapts layout to screen size while keeping the same main content. - Geotargeting or language choice that changes currency or wording, not the topic or intent of the page. - A or B tests that serve one of a few variants to all users and Google equally, are short‑lived, and do not hide content from users. - Server‑side rendering or hydration that results in the same content for Google and users. > Rule: if a user who disables JavaScript, changes device or IP still gets the same topic and claims as Googlebot, you are not cloaking. ## How to check your site 1. **Compare what Google fetches** Open Search Console’s URL Inspection for a page. View the crawled page HTML and screenshot. Compare it to what you see in a logged‑out browser. 2. **Test user agents** Load the same URL with a normal browser and with a crawler user agent using a crawler or curl. The core text, links and canonical should match. 3. **Check redirects** Use a redirect checker. Make sure Googlebot and users both get the same status code and final URL, for http to https, www to non‑www and mobile. 4. **Look in server logs** Sample access logs. Confirm that Googlebot IPs and user IPs are served the same path and do not split to different content. 5. **Review changes and scripts** Disable JavaScript, cookie walls and A or B test scripts. The core message and offers should still match what Google saw. ## Fixes and safe setups - Remove any IP or user‑agent rules that swap content for Googlebot. - If you must pre‑render, serve the exact same HTML to users. Do not add extra text only for crawlers. - For paywalls, add the paywalled content structured data and avoid showing more to Google than to subscribers. - Keep A or B tests short and symmetric. Use 302 or 307 for temporary redirects in tests, not 301. - Unify redirects. For example, both users and Google go from / to https://yourproduct.com/ with the same 301 chain. - Document geo and device variants. Ensure the topic and claims are the same, and link alternates with hreflang where relevant. A fixed page looks the same for Googlebot and a logged‑out user: same title, H1, body copy, links and canonical. ## Penalties, manual actions and recovery If Google detects cloaking, traffic can drop after a spam update or at any time. A manual action appears in Search Console with the affected pages. 1. **Confirm the issue** Open the Manual actions report. Read the type and examples. Check the Security issues report too, which is separate. 2. **Fix fully** Remove all mismatches and sneaky redirects. Make the live pages match what Googlebot will fetch. 3. **Request review** From the Manual actions report, file a reconsideration request. Explain the root cause, the changes and the date deployed. Reviews take days to weeks. 4. **Expect timing** Algorithmic hits from spam systems or core updates may need a later update to reassess the site as of 2026. > Never serve a keyword‑stuffed or link‑stuffed version to crawlers. That is textbook cloaking and is likely to trigger spam systems or a manual action. ## Questions ### What is cloaking in SEO? It is showing Googlebot different content or URLs than a human visitor. The intent is to deceive. Google lists it in its spam policies and can penalise a site for it. ### Is a paywall considered cloaking? No, not if you use the paywalled content structured data and keep headlines, metadata and key signals consistent. Do not show more to Google than to paying users. ### Does A or B testing risk cloaking? It is fine when variants are shown to both users and Google equally, are temporary, and do not hide content from users. Avoid bot‑targeted variants. ### Is dynamic rendering allowed? Serving pre‑rendered HTML to crawlers is discouraged if it differs. If you use it for technical reasons, the content must match the user experience. ### How do I know if I have a cloaking penalty? Check Search Console. A manual action will be listed with examples. If traffic fell without a manual action, review changes against spam policies and recent spam updates. ## Read next - [Google spam updates: the policies they enforce and how to stay clear](https://porteur.ai/guides/google-spam-update): See what a Google spam update enforces, the policies that trip small product sites, how to check your risk, and how to recover if you’re hit. - [Manual actions and the reconsideration request](https://porteur.ai/guides/manual-actions-and-reconsideration): Tell a Google manual action from an algorithmic drop, fix the cause, use disavow only when needed, and write a clear reconsideration request. - [How to use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console](https://porteur.ai/guides/url-inspection-tool): Read each panel, run Test live URL, and know when to request indexing. Fix new pages, dropped pages, and canonicals Google ignores. - [How to use Google Search Console in ten minutes a week](https://porteur.ai/guides/how-to-use-google-search-console): A quick weekly routine: set four filters, compare 28 days, check pages then queries, and fix three findings, without getting lost in noise. - [Doorway page](https://porteur.ai/glossary/doorway-page): Doorway pages are many near-duplicate pages funnelling to one destination. See how to spot them, fix them, and protect rankings on a small site. - [Keyword stuffing](https://porteur.ai/glossary/keyword-stuffing): Keyword stuffing is loading pages with repeated terms to game rankings. See why it fails, what Google’s policies say, how to spot it, and what to write instead. Worried a template or redirect might look like cloaking, run your URL through the free check to compare what a crawler and a user will see in about thirty seconds from Porteur. Free check: https://porteur.ai/