ARN

With screenshot out, Google denies ranking hanky-panky

An image with dollar figures next to Google search results prompted speculation that commercial considerations affect Google rankings, but Google denies it.

Google is dismissing speculation that commercial considerations play a role in how it ranks Web sites, as a screenshot of a Google search results list with dollar values for each link makes the blogosphere rounds.

The French-language Zorgloob blog, which focuses on Google issues, first ran the screenshot on Tuesday, prompting discussions in online forums and other Web publications.

Google confirmed that the screenshot is legitimate, but explained that it came from a tool used by members of the company's AdWords sales team for purposes of prioritizing new customer acquisition efforts.

"Our organic search results have always been completely independent from our paid advertisements. We consider the objectivity of our search results to be paramount to our success and would never compromise that in any way," said software engineer Matt Cutts, in a statement sent via the company's public relations department.

The tool isn't used by the company's search quality team "in any way," he said. "We are strongly committed to maintaining the integrity of our organic search results."

Still, some Google watchers aren't completely satisfied by the Google statement, as evidenced by some of the questions and observations posted in discussion threads and blog comments in places like WebmasterWorld, Google Blogoscoped and Valleywag.

For instance, a participant in the WebmasterWorld thread wonders why, if the tool's purpose is customer acquisition, the data would be attached as well to the links of existing AdWords advertisers.

This person also questions whether Google even approaches potential advertisers to get them started on AdWords, which has traditionally been described by the company as a self-service program for which advertisers sign themselves up online.

Others are wondering what some of the data labels in the search results mean, like "GG Score," and how the values are calculated.

Google didn't immediately reply to a follow-up request for comment on these issues.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: Google, VIA

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the ARN comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
ARN Directory | Distributors relevant to this article
Aquion , Avnet Technology Solutions
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to ARN's news, research and invitation only events.
ARN Distributor Directory
Find distributors by name | vendor | location
Channel Deals
/deals/aca-pacific/398_abbyy-finereader-11-intelligent-ocr-software-f
ACA Pacific

ABBYY FineReader 11 - Intelligent OCR software for document conversion.

More details »
ARN Vendor Directory
Find vendors by name | category

iAsset is a channel management ecosystem that automates all major aspects of the entire sales,marketing and service process, including data tracking, integrated learning, knowledge management and product lifecycle management.