Why does Texas have Google in court?
The great state of Texas has taken Google to court over allegations that the company has artificially manipulated returned search results, essentially favoring the owners of some pages and sites over others.
The state’s prosecutors are deeming this to be an “antitrust review” during which they will collect information about the activities of the search giant. At issue is whether or not Google has been and is still manipulating the results users see when they search for a term, favoring one product or site over another in the order in which site are returned. Given that most searches today return a huge number of hits, it is becoming increasingly important to rank favorably with Google, so that your results are first, or at least on the first page or two. Naturally, if the results for your pages are much farther back in the list of returns, you will get fewer visitors.
Google could be doing this by specifically downgrading the importance of some sites as compared to other similar sites, or it could be making a difference in who is rated where by adjusting their infamous “search algorithm.” This algorithm is the holy grail of an entire industry, that of search engine optimization (SEO), although it is kept entirely secret by Google. He or she who guesses correctly about the algorithm, or changes that are made in it, become the head witch or warlock of the SEO world until someone else makes a better guess. Since no one actually knows anything about what Google does in their private search basement, SEO is a bit of a black art.
According to a CNET story, Texas has specifically asked Google about three companies that have filed complaints: Foundem (a price comparison site), TradeComet and myTriggers. Google has pointed out that that Foundem is part of an organization with Microsoft called the Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace and that lawyers who have worked with Microsoft have represented TradeComet and myTriggers. Microsoft, of course, denies that it is in any way organizing a legal campaign against Google. Still, parts of this look like Big Evil against Do No Evil, whose record is not so clean either.
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