is a good debate.
okay my understanding is that what makes google the grand SE that it has achieved … is that they have a process for returning results which is uncompromised by human intervention.
thus you get a return of results which (ideally anyway) won’t be loaded with a bunch of spam sites. You type in looking for “casinos played while holding on foot in toliet” and you get results returned that are going to be closest to what you searched … and not be a redirect to 888.com
but that is in essence the situation where google is returning results that are placing higher the second copy to original content … and that they are benefiting from it.
if it was just happening on a random basis where google wasn’t benefiting from the occurence then it could be said the algos are needing a tweak but this instance makes it painfully obvious they are manipulating their system for their own benefit.
Is this wrong? No, not from a biz pov but it is wrong in that their claim to fame is having such a sterile and true process. That’s why I use them. Now I am to question them on every search I do.
its all about crediblity and I think they have lost on this particular battle. Set aside whether or not i like google, I always respected them for returning results that might be spammed but I never thought the results would be tainted by google itself.
Get where I’m going with that?
How is their credibility effected however if this sort of thing isn’t brought to light? They need to be accountable for such matters and supply a reasonable explanation for when these things happen if they want to stay at the top of the game.
And this sort of thing definitely needs to be given more exposure when it happens because I had no clue about this aspect until I read this article. I really think much less of them now than before and I might start looking around to do my searches instead of being so loyal to google.
How many reading this thread were aware of this angle? Well even if you were … I think you’re in the minority.
But it won’t take long for word to spread if they keep up this behavior.