http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1965861/is_google_playing_favorites_wsj/
Is Google Playing Favorites?: WSJ
Posted on: Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 07:57 CST

Google Inc. has been increasingly promoting some of its own content by placing it over that of rival websites when its users perform online searches, leading many competitors to cry foul.

Google, which is developing more content in hopes of boosting ad revenue, says that prominently displaying its links over others is more useful to Web searchers than just displaying links to sites that rank highly within the search system. But the moves mean Google is increasingly at odds with websites that rely on the search engine for visitors.

I guess nobody understands. What it's doing is pre-empting any rankings your website has earned by number of hits/ creativity/ popularity. The whole ball game has changed on Google as of a few months ago. What's the answer?

The answer is...

They can do whatever the fuck they want with their search engine they pay a shitload of money to run?

I'd do the same thing if I was them, the world isn't fair, if you want to be the top ranking on a search engine then start your own damn successful engine and work hard to get millions to use it.

The answer is search on multiple engines.  As my chinese signals prof used to say, "Is simpo."

You don't understand webranking do you ?

Are they also trumping paying advertisers ?

This.  



People can search elsewhere.



Advertisers can advertise elsewhere.





 

Go to Bing.



Google gives me the results I search for so I don't know what the problem is.

Again they can do what they want, if advertisers and users don't like what they are doing there are other search engines they can use.

If they aren't violating a contract I fail to see what the problem is.

They're finally doing what all the other search engines have been doing since day 1. If you search for something thats relevant to a service they offer they display the link to their service first.





-Foxxz



 

They are also rearranging other content. Like images.

Google the wookie.

If the majority use Google to search with, and webpage rankings have little merit, what's an internet advertiser to do?

Google has gotten way too cocky.  Back in the "olden days" of the Interwebs, other search engines tried the same shenanigans and lost their customer base over it.  InfoSeek used to be my favorite search engine because it was fast, accurate, and didn't fill up the page with ads.  Guess where InfoSeek is at today?



Google needs to get their act together before somebody else smacks 'em down.

Exactly, advertisers don't have a right to good rankings on Google.

Some people are just used to Google being free, and if they start trying to make a profit, well, it is WRONG and EVIL because it is a MEAN BIG CORPORATION KEEPING THE LITTLE GUY DOWN!!!

errr, sorry...  

Those who want to rank higher should pay for some google adsense/adwords.  It's actually not too expensive unless you want to reach every single person in the entire world.

Prior to this, webpage rankings were mostly fan based. Having a good website and being a little creative with key words help. Now it's all revenue based ranking. The Google user is seeing google controlled ranking.

Very familiar with it because I'm quite involved in SEO.



The question lies in who people want to search, if people get to the point they no longer trust google and go elsewhere , there might be a chance for google to stop the shenanigans.



Google as they are has many bright individuals that make very stupid decisions regularly...........Now that they're a public company , stockholders are in control and google is doing all they can to keep their 10%-30% quarterly growth coming.

When I search for something on google, I get the results I need on the first page about 90% of the time.  Rarely do I have to go beyond page 3.  I don't ever get the feeling I'm being manipulated or advertised to, either outright or subliminally.



I've tried to use Bing, and to me it's awful compared to google.



When google stops giving me good results or I start getting a bunch of BS added into my results, I'll go elsewhere.

From an e-mail I recieved.


Changes to Google Places Causing Changes in Google Search Results
Local business owners who've logged on recently to check on their listings and ranking in Google's search results might have gotten a shock as to where they show up-or more to the point, where they didn't show up.

Google changed where results from Google Places (formerly called Google Maps) show within the search results page, and is now merging Places results with organic search results. The combination of both Places and organic results onto one results page causes an entire restructure of Google's search results page.

Unfortunately, some businesses that were showing up first in both Google Places and Google's organic search results are now seeing both results merged into just one result. Meanwhile, others that were showing high in organic results may now be pushed "below the fold" on the search results page, or worse, to page two.

Google Places is similar to an online directory listing for local businesses. Google pulls the business information from available databases and automatically creates a page for the business. Then business owners can "claim" the page on Google and enter information about their business.

Old news in the industry.  Those who pay get higher rankings than those who don't.  Those who benefit Google somehow will get higher rankings.  Etc.  Capitalism in action.

The difference between Google and Bing on 12/07/2010 why I refuse to use Google anymore.

I'm a Bing searcher now.

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2010/12/pearl-harbor-re.html

So which results do consumers prefer?  The old or the new?  At the end of the day the consumer impact will play a part in whether this new combination stays.

I guess i don't understand either. Could you explain it to me? (Im being serious, not sarcastic. I know its hard to convey tone on a msg board)

There are a host of factors (this is about results in a business search)
1.  Does the query specify a business name specifically or just an industry?
2.  The quality of the data the search provider has.  How complete is the data?  How current (businesses come and go all the time)?
3.  Does the query specify a location (city name and state, zip code, etc) for finding the business.
   a.  How easy is it to provide map results for location based searches?
4.  Are brands mentioned? Different businesses may carry different brands within the same industry.
5.  Do any businesses within the search parameters pay to have their information more prominantly displayed on the search results page?
6.  From previous search queries and results selected, can the search provider anticipate the most common/probable selection?

All these variables get compiled and impact the search results.

I'll post more as more come to mind.