Wonder Why Google Isn't Returning Some Hits It Should Be?

Joe St Sauver, Ph.D.
Director, User Services and Network Applications
joe@uoregon.edu

Recently, high-ranking sites that had long appeared at the top of Google search results suddenly dropped drastically in rank or disappeared entirely. Some analysts speculate that this may be the unintended consequence of an anti-spam measure that Google implemented in mid-November.

Based on reports, it appears that Google is using a new complex and proprietary filtering algorithm that attempts to remove web pages which have been artificially manipulated in ways designed to inflate their placement in search results.

While that's generally a laudable goal, Google's new filter can have some unexpected results. For example, consider an ISP using Google to investigate a potential new customer: if Google suppresses certain web pages related to that customer with its new filter, the ISP may assume the customer has a "clean online record"--when in fact that may be the furthest thing from the truth.

In our view, Google should offer an unfiltered viewing option for those who need it for research purposes, or who otherwise want to see all hits relevant to a given search term, whether tainted by spam or not.

References

For more information on Google spam filtering and its possible consequences, see

- "Google Bayesian Spam Filtering Problem?"
http://sethf.com/anticensorware/google/bayesian-spam.php

- "Bayesian spam filters used in the Google search engine"
http://www.isedb.com/news/index.php?t=reviews&id=578

- "Google Florida Update--Penalty Filter Flow Chart--Revision #22"
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/google-florida-chart.htm

- "Florida Fever: The Google Update Uproar"
http://www.searchengineposition.com/info/netprofit/floridaupdate.asp
(See http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ for the tool mentioned in that article.)