3 ms·

What about Google's documented history of pushing competitors lower in search rankings?

Relys 12y ago
Shouldn't that fall under some sort of antitrust law? Edit: Yikes, just saw the thread on EU antitrust accusations which got me thinking about the concept of a decentralized search engine. I found this: http://yacy.net/en/index.html http://yacy.net/en/index.html
- kuschku 12y ago
  Exactly, and that’s why the EU trial is going on right now. Shopping and Places are two of the main problems the EU sees right now.
birken 12y ago
They already do. Search for "Los Angeles House Cleaning" (or many similar types of searches). There is a 'Google places' block of results pushing down people like Thumbtack and Homejoy. Having used both services, I can guarantee you Thumbtack or Homejoy is a much better result than the 'Google places' results linking to random house cleaners. For example, on my SERP this sparse, unhelpful page (https://plus.google.com/116731524137013411814/about?hl=en https://plus.google.com/116731524137013411814/about?hl=en) ranks above both Thumbtack and Homejoy. Once you are big enough you don't need to worry about Google anymore. When I want to buy a product, I don't search on Google and then go to Amazon; I go to Amazon directly. Whoever "wins" the local services space is likely to be similar. People will just go to that site and skip Google completely.
- magicalist 12y ago
  hmm, what does your page look like? For me I get three ads on the top, but then I get two regular search links to LA house cleaning on yelp before you get to the Google places block. And even then, the second Google place in that block is Homejoy, and all the links for the places go to direct sites...you have to click the explicit link below each for the "Google+ page" to get to those pages.
- vezycash 12y ago
  If this behavior is intentional, there's one other possible motive to consider - Adwords. I've learned to understand Google's actions by how such actions affect its ability to sell Ads.
- kuschku 12y ago
  And THIS is exactly what the EU antitrust trial is about.
- takeda 12y ago
  Not sure about that. Bing and DDG show it even lower. I doubt Microsoft or DDG would cooperate with Google on that.

Relys 12y ago

Shouldn't that fall under some sort of antitrust law? Edit: Yikes, just saw the thread on EU antitrust accusations which got me thinking about the concept of a decentralized search engine. I found this: http://yacy.net/en/index.html http://yacy.net/en/index.html

kuschku 12y ago
Exactly, and that’s why the EU trial is going on right now. Shopping and Places are two of the main problems the EU sees right now.

birken 12y ago

They already do. Search for "Los Angeles House Cleaning" (or many similar types of searches). There is a 'Google places' block of results pushing down people like Thumbtack and Homejoy. Having used both services, I can guarantee you Thumbtack or Homejoy is a much better result than the 'Google places' results linking to random house cleaners. For example, on my SERP this sparse, unhelpful page (https://plus.google.com/116731524137013411814/about?hl=en https://plus.google.com/116731524137013411814/about?hl=en) ranks above both Thumbtack and Homejoy. Once you are big enough you don't need to worry about Google anymore. When I want to buy a product, I don't search on Google and then go to Amazon; I go to Amazon directly. Whoever "wins" the local services space is likely to be similar. People will just go to that site and skip Google completely.

magicalist 12y ago
hmm, what does your page look like? For me I get three ads on the top, but then I get two regular search links to LA house cleaning on yelp before you get to the Google places block. And even then, the second Google place in that block is Homejoy, and all the links for the places go to direct sites...you have to click the explicit link below each for the "Google+ page" to get to those pages.
vezycash 12y ago
If this behavior is intentional, there's one other possible motive to consider - Adwords. I've learned to understand Google's actions by how such actions affect its ability to sell Ads.
kuschku 12y ago
And THIS is exactly what the EU antitrust trial is about.
takeda 12y ago
Not sure about that. Bing and DDG show it even lower. I doubt Microsoft or DDG would cooperate with Google on that.