by When I saw this headline on Google news, I could not believe it.
Search Engine Optimization and Google’s $208,000 penalty
Although Google has been challenged many times about the PageRank algorithm and indexing web pages, this challenge can easily extend to other countries and hurt the concept of being a search engine.
For example, “In 2007, a group of Austrian researchers observed a tendency to misuse the Google engine as a “reality interface”. Ordinary users as well as journalists tend to rely on the first pages of Google search, assuming that everything not listed there is either not important or merely does not exist. The researchers say that ‘Google has become the main interface for our whole reality.’” [1]
The SEO challenge is not something new
The page-ranking algorithm of Google has been manipulated for political and humorous reasons. We all have seen many Google bombs. Start from 1999 by “more evil than Satan himself” to Microsoft [1] till 2012, on “completely wrong” for Romney [2] in the latest election in the US.
Google, in the position of defending itself about search engine optimization (SEO) and it’s algorithm updates, always says the search engine results Page (SERP), on google.com is a perception and understanding of Google and no one can argue and blame Google about it [3].
This answer was right, but not now in Australia!
As you may read the story of new Google challenge on Gizmodo [4], it is good for Google to be careful for ANY page result!
Why?
“The jury was entitled to conclude that Google Inc intended to publish the material that its automated systems produced, because that was what they were designed to do upon a search request being typed into one of Google Inc’s search products. In that sense, Google Inc is like the newsagent that sells a newspaper containing a defamatory article. While there might be no specific intention to publish defamatory material, there is a relevant intention by the newsagent to publish the newspaper for the purposes of the law of defamation.” [4]
Read the full story of Michael Trkulja on BBC News [4].
Can Google Disavow Tool Solve the problem?
Google cannot monitor and change all page results manually, so Googlers have prepared Google Disavow Tool to eliminiate some links from the page result. But it taks time to be aplied and the issue is the authority of requester. If any person, company or entity has the same challenge like Mr. Michael Trkulja, should hire a lawyer and “ask” Google to change the result page?
I really want to know what Google will do to take care of its existence. What do you think?
References
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Google
- http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/10/tech/web/google-romney-completely-wrong/index.html
- http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.ca/2012/06/setting-record-straight-competition-in.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20153309
Leave a Reply