Google Sued Over Drop in SERPs
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When KinderStart sued Google recently for the “cataclysmic fall” in its rank on the search engine results pages (SERPs), I got the sense that a lot of websites rather wished they could do the same thing. It’s no secret that many online businesses live and die by their SERPs rankings, and that Google is the most widely-used search engine on the planet. Because of the effect this could have on the entire search engine field, the facts surrounding the lawsuit deserve a closer look.
Indeed, if you look at the raw facts of the situation as presented from KinderStart’s point of view, what you see is the secret nightmare of every online business. The site is aimed at parents of children who are less than seven years of age. It launched in May 2000, and managed to build up its traffic to a quite respectable 10 million page views a month. Most of these views were coming from Google search users.
Then in March 2005, disaster struck. Page views dropped by 70 percent; advertising revenues fell even more precipitously, by 80 percent, and still haven’t recovered. In other words, KinderStart went from receiving 10 million hits a month to just three million. And Google will not explain to the company what happened.
It is perhaps understandable that KinderStart would believe that Google erected some sort of barrier that diverts web surfers who would visit its site to somewhere else. What happened next has been described in the press as a two-year-old throwing a tantrum (and worse), but the difference is that two-year-olds don’t usually call in the courts. The site filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court that charges Google with, among other things, violating its right to free speech; using a monopoly position to harm competitors, thus violating section two of the Sherman Act; engaging in unfair practices; and committing defamation and libel.
It gets even more interesting. KinderStart wants the court to turn it into a class action lawsuit and award unspecified damages to affected businesses. It is also seeking financial damages for itself, and wants Google to be more transparent about how it ranks sites. In short, it is hoping to start a full-fledged rebellion and turn the search engine world upside down. But before those of you who also think Google needs to be less tight-lipped start cheering, let’s take a closer look at KinderStart itself.
Next: Where’s the Content? >>
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