Update (June 2): At the request of Michael Roberts, I have updated the excerpt from his excellent site, with the latest version deleting the previous version from this blog.

Original Post

Michael Roberts, Senior Investigator of Rexxfield.com writes about more dark behavior from Google that belies it’s claim to “do no evil.” Google, in case you don’t know it, is a highly political search engine, ranked at the bottom of privacy lists by surveillance experts, and known to be amenable to government influence in China and the US.

I’ve often noticed that the articles and sites that pop up on a yahoo, altavista, or bing search have much in common. But none of them is similar to what I get from a Google search. That suggests that Google is using algorithms that are quite different, and possibly quite opposed, to the normal SEO criteria – well-written, credible, or well-sourced material.

“As promised a long time ago, the following is a brief explanation of what we are researching with respect to some high ranking libelous websites that do not appear to have the credibility to warrant such high search placement.It has been hypothesized by some that Google has added a new element to their search algorithms called “Quality Deserves Diversity” which is proving to be problematic for traditional Search Engine Optimization techniques (SEO) as those methods relate to online reputation management. Having observed the very real carnage this hypothetical algorithm exacts on the reputation of some good people, I call it the “Humility Algorithm ” .If the hypothesis is true, then it probably explains why Google often displays hastily written, false, and maliciously posted pages in what seems to be a specially reserved and impervious third or fourth place on page one of search results.

Traditional SEO efforts might manipulate and insert content above or below the libelous publication, and yet try as you may, Google does not seem to budge the negative listing from its 3rd or 4th place irrespective of the page’s lack of credibility or number of incoming links “GoogleJuice”; normal SEO techniques seem futile. Victims of this algorithm and the defamation it often propagates are often left with an indelible defamatory result for the world to see each time they are Googled.

Recently Rexxfield has been engaged by new clients struggling with some very egregious pages that have achieved high search results almost overnight; these cases fit the hypothesis. The pages in question have very demeaning words closely associated with personal names that this hypothetical algorithm seems to devour (scam, molester, ponzi, ripoff, fraud, thief, divorce, assault).

Furthermore, it appears that some domains dedicated to libel, gossip and extortion appear to have been designated by Google as a diversity sites by default.

Many SEO experts are asking if this algorithm exists. Google appears to be vague or silent on the matter. I have observed this phenomenon first hand through experimentation and real-life cases, and I agree that it exists.

Our team has had recent successes in thwarting this unreasonable algorithm and we are refining our techniques further.

On the face of it, the introduction of this algorithm does not reconcile with Google’s unofficial mantra “Don’t be evil”.

Michael Roberts
Snr. Investigator and Libel Litigation Support Consultant.
www.rexxfield.com

If you don’t take control of Google results for your name, eventually someone else will….”