A California court has upheld Google's apparent free speech right to display search results in whatever order it chooses, which is bad news for anyone who uses Google - or most internet users, in other words.
In fact, the only people this is good for are the ones who work at Google.
The case originated when a site called CoastNews alleged that Google was pushing it far down in search results.
Whether or not that was really happening is now irrelevant, since the court granted Google's anti-SLAPP motion - a lightning legal tactic to uphold the company's free speech - and ruled that Google can legally present results in any order it wants.
Yes, that's good news for Google, but it might not be so great for average users who just want to see the most relevant results - and not necessarily just the results that Google wants them to see.
The right to choose
Google has been batting back and forth with European Union regulators about this issue for years, and it's losing the game overseas. Regulators there are forcing Google to take steps like displaying competitors' ads in prominent positions, for example.
But here in the US "free speech" trumps all, and it seems search results may suffer as a result.
There are several precedents in past cases, but nevertheless Google must be reveling in retaining its ability to show you exactly what results it wants you to see.
In other news, there's always Bing.
http://ift.tt/1wQy3YM
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