Google is cracking down on spam. Freelancers are now caught in the crossfire.

Google's crackdown on spam has cut some publishers' traffic.

Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI

• Publishers like Dotdash Meredith and Forbes are taking big steps to counter a Google crackdown.
• Google targeted what it considered spammy content, which impacted many product-review articles.
• Dotdash Meredith and others cut ties with some freelancers and scrubbed their articles.

Freelance writers who worked with digital media companies like IAC-owned Dotdash...