Even those search engines that don't buy results from Google use similar algorithms. and have problems with duplicate content.
The way that search engines relate to duplicate content is a pertinent issue. Our own celebrity bot @cheetah has the same issue.
The fact that Google used the mantra "do no evil" while creating a search engine that undermined the Internet is a pretty good sign that the company was engaged in "evil."
Google was projecting what it was doing onto other people. Projecting evil onto other people is one of the greatest acts of evil.
There were some companies that specifically created false information to skew Google's results. What Google did was to declare all of the directories that competed against Google to be link farms. They then shadow-banned directories and declared them "evil."
It was an evil act.
Google did have a propensity to favor negative information; potentialprostitutes and ripoffreports were good examples that rose through the rankings at lightning speed. Duplicate content didn't seem to matter, there were some 200 websites listing the same collection of 17.3 million mugshots between 2012 and 2016. The fact that 30% of those folks were exonerated or had the charges against them dropped also did not seem to matter; the first 50 search results were dominated by smutshot websites all listing the exact same information and offered removal for a fee. Those that paid found that the next batch of websites rose to the top to replace the ones that were taken down.
So much for duplicate content rejection :/
All I will add to this story is that I know for a fact that most SEO experts have no clue how that was done, and have no tools to counteract such an attack. Evil? Absolutely! ..but who...
The EU slapped Google with a $2.7 Billion fine for search result manipulation and another $5 Billion fine for pushing their Android Apps. Yeah, that's a "B"
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You are completely correct. The googlebot system of shadow-banning sites didn't work.
Google really did nothing more than create a system where they can shadow ban the nice sites. Their search engine can still be gamed by bad actors.
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You know, before 2011 they left a copy of their algorithm open for their developers. It's about 8GB and there are still a few copies floating around out there. Of course they can change a few lines of code and everything changes again, but some folks found a way around that. Rather than reverse engineering the algorithm, it's behavior can be measured and changes noted when they happen and reacted to on short order. The only thing a search engine can do about that is shut itself down.
One thing search engines can do is simply de-list unwanted sites; it's 100% effective, but they refused at that time. They do exactly that now that they face some expensive fines.
Anyway, I'm out of that game; I spent enough time on that and I prefer to move on. Hope any info I shared in this thread helps those that need to better understand that these search engines are manipulated by both their owners and outside actors. Greetings!
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I started creating community directories in 1999. I still hold on to a few of the geodomains I started with the brand Community Color. The sites have never made money, nor have they been popular.
I hold on to them defiantly because I think people need to support their local communities.
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I had a gander and I thought the site would be great for travelers. Never quite make it to Cheyenne as I headed south to Denver on my way to Moab and on to L.A.
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