It is not something I found, just read the story on another forum. Thought of sharing with DP community. If you believe you are a victim - Just know some one is moving some stones. http://www.infowars.com/google-alle...lts-favoring-big-brands-over-small-businesses
I was familiar with the case, good to know there might be some progress soon... The current results are really manipulated and quite a mess.
Fiction and stupidity. Google is no different from Yahoo or Bing or any other search engine that shows a map, local results, etc, when someone searches. This is about providing a full service. It would be a lot less useful if there wasn't a map when search for a local business, a park or museum (for example). The FTC has had a hard-on for Google for a long time. The question is: Who's paying for it? (Or handing them free boxes of viagra.) As for favouring brands, also fiction. Look at that quoted site - would you trust it? This is health insurance, not dog collars. Obviously you want a search engine to return results you can trust. You don't want to hand your money over to someone who has manipulated their way into the top 10, but instead a legitimate business that has worked hard (regardless of size) to make a good reputation. Look at its backlinks (Open Site Explorer) and compare it to Aviva.co.uk - there is a world of difference.
Their organic results are organic. They already did something very clear and open to make money from advertisers: a paid shopping system. People love to hate on Google and quickly forget that they are the ones who put an end to paid placements in organic results.