3 ms·

The harm is pretty trivially demonstrated in the privileged search rankings Google gives its own products. This drives down competition in these other verticals

The harm is pretty trivially demonstrated in the privileged search rankings Google gives its own products. This drives down competition in these other verticals and leaves consumers with winners that won because they are Google's products, not because they are the best. I also really dislike the use of the word "hatred" here, which is a loaded word deployed when a writer wants to make those they are arguing against seem overly emotional and irrational.

scarmig 6y ago
Does Google give a boost to its own products in the search rankings?
- speeder 6y ago
  Yes, a particularly annoying case for example is the "Coronavirus Map". Everyone I know that typed that on google, wanted to visit the John Hopkins map: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html But to me, and to many other people I know, it starts with Google own map and statistics, then some ads, then some random crap, and finally near the end of the page John Hopkins map. EDIT: just a note, I am not living in US, so the top-most boxes don't show US stuff.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - jonas21 6y ago
    When I search for "coronavirus map", this is what I get: https://i.imgur.com/XJ8zL7x.png https://i.imgur.com/XJ8zL7x.png I see a link to the Johns Hopkins map at the very top, along with the New York Times map. And below that a bunch of statistics broken down by geography -- which is usually what I'm after, I don't care so much about the map itself. What I don't see are any ads (and I'm not using an adblocker), or links to other Google properties except for their Coronavirus information site. I realize you may get different results depending on where you are, but in particular, I'd be surprised if you saw ads or "random crap" for this search.
- ocdtrekkie 6y ago
  There's a difference between how Google would define this, which is "No, we don't slant the organic results to benefit any company or product" and how the real world will see it "The organic results sit below ads which look like organic results, and various other boxes Google injects to promote it's own products". Bear in mind, the first real search result these days requires scrolling to get to. Everything up top is either for Google products or paid ads that Google profits from.

scarmig 6y ago

Does Google give a boost to its own products in the search rankings?

speeder 6y ago
Yes, a particularly annoying case for example is the "Coronavirus Map". Everyone I know that typed that on google, wanted to visit the John Hopkins map: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html But to me, and to many other people I know, it starts with Google own map and statistics, then some ads, then some random crap, and finally near the end of the page John Hopkins map. EDIT: just a note, I am not living in US, so the top-most boxes don't show US stuff.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jonas21 6y ago
  When I search for "coronavirus map", this is what I get: https://i.imgur.com/XJ8zL7x.png https://i.imgur.com/XJ8zL7x.png I see a link to the Johns Hopkins map at the very top, along with the New York Times map. And below that a bunch of statistics broken down by geography -- which is usually what I'm after, I don't care so much about the map itself. What I don't see are any ads (and I'm not using an adblocker), or links to other Google properties except for their Coronavirus information site. I realize you may get different results depending on where you are, but in particular, I'd be surprised if you saw ads or "random crap" for this search.
ocdtrekkie 6y ago
There's a difference between how Google would define this, which is "No, we don't slant the organic results to benefit any company or product" and how the real world will see it "The organic results sit below ads which look like organic results, and various other boxes Google injects to promote it's own products". Bear in mind, the first real search result these days requires scrolling to get to. Everything up top is either for Google products or paid ads that Google profits from.