“A couple of things about the searches on Google and Yahoo… it’s not just that thing you showed there, Keith. It’s not just the sponsored link at the top –I was fooling around with it this afternoon. They’re buying the Google algorithm, not just that first thing up top. If you put in all kinds of other combinations, and you do the search, the top several responses you get in the un-highlighted area –supposedly the journalistic area– also take you directly to the BP page. So I think there are questions to be asked about that whole thing is working.”
–Howard Fineman on Keith Olbermann, , 2010

Accusing Google of selling listings or “page rank” in the non-sponsored section of the search is a pretty bold claim. Much like saying “That politician took a bribe!” or “That woman killed her husband!” I would like some proof with that statement. He didn’t say “It seems like…” or in some other way leave himself an out with his statement either. Fineman came right out and accused Google of shady business practices, and his only proof? When you type “BP” and “oil” and “spill” into Google, in addition to the sponsored link BP actually did buy, the first couple of links also go to BP’s homepage.

Let me take a moment to explain to the elderly gentleman how it could possibly be that BP’s own web site might come up highly listed on Google’s search results OTHER than BP having bought something Google says they don’t sell (Page Rank):

Everyone and their pet dog has been linking to the live camera on the gushing oil pipe, which just so happens to be on a sub-page of the BP web site. Many of these places linking to it have high page rank themselves (Rachel Maddow’s blog, for example), which then also gives the page linked to a page rank boost. Additionally, all these other pages linking to that page are undoubtedly doing so in posts or articles using the words “BP” and “oil” and “spill” which will lead to that page being ranked highly for those search terms (on top of the fact BP probably has high page rank anyway, even before everyone was talking about them -they are the fourth largest company on the planet). Since the live camera is on a sub-page of a main web site, it’s going to be listed as such in the search listings underneath the link for the main web page (so it’s really only one listing). This is totally not at all surprising to anyone who has any understanding of how Google works.^†

If I were Google and had Google’s bank account and team of lawyers, I’d probably be having a discussion with Mr. Fineman. “They’re buying the Google algorithm,” he says quite clearly in the following clip.

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Like I said, that’s a bold statement without any actual proof to back it up. Why, I’d say it’s positively slanderous, and I bet there would be some Google lawyers who agree with me.

Just because you are on TV does not mean you can say whatever thing pops into your head! Stop making stuff up and believing it’s true just because the thought crossed your mind and you lack the knowledge, imagination, and/or research skills required to understand how search engines like Google work!

NEWLY ADDED INFO: Becky at White Hat, Black Belt has a much more knowledgeable explanation for those who want more information on why exactly Fineman’s statement about Google was completely ignorant. I’m not wrong, but she really knows her stuff!

1. † And if you leave off BP and only search for oil spill, there is no link at all to the BP web site. Once again, I am not at all surprised. Duh. Most major corporations have great page rank on their own company name. Hell, if you type the words “just” and “orb” into Google, lo and behold, I dominate the top several listings, and I am hardly a major corporation. [↩]