The Google Algorithm

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: July 15, 2010 5:43:03 AM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The Google Algorithm

July 14, 2010
The Google Algorithm
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/opinion/15thu3.html>

Google handles nearly two-thirds of Internet search queries worldwide. Analysts reckon that most Web sites rely on the 
search engine for half of their traffic. When Google engineers tweak its supersecret algorithm — as they do hundreds of 
times a year — they can break the business of a Web site that is pushed down the rankings.

When Google was a pure search engine, it was easy to appear agnostic about search results, with no reason to play 
favorites with one Web site or another. But as Google has branched out into online services from maps and videos to 
comparison shopping, it has acquired pecuniary incentives to favor its own over rivals.

Google argues that its behavior is kept in check by competitors like Yahoo or Bing. But Google has become the default 
search engine for many Internet users. Competitors are a click away, but a case is building for some sort of oversight 
of the gatekeeper of the Internet.

In the past few months, Google has come under investigation by antitrust regulators in Europe. Rivals have accused 
Google of placing the Web sites of affiliates like Google Maps or YouTube at the top of Internet searches and 
relegating competitors to obscurity down the list. In the United States, Google said it expects antitrust regulators to 
scrutinize its $700 million purchase of the flight information software firm ITA, with which it plans to enter the 
online travel search market occupied by Expedia, Orbitz, Bing and others.

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