Google Wins Search Rank Case; Back to the Drawing Board for Kinderstart
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Written By Reprise Media | July 14, 2006 | Share This
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A judge has dismissed a case leveled against Google by parenting vertical KinderStart, ruling that a drop in the site’s search rankings did not equate to a trammeling of its constitutional free speech rights. We thought not. Here’s CNet’s report.
However, KinderStart was granted leeway for a last gasp. The judge gave the site “leave to amend” several of its claims and refile them, possibly as a class action. KinderStart lawyer Gregory Yu wrote:
“The decision suggests that, if properly alleged, Google may be defaming a whole class of Web sites sacked with a ‘0′ PageRank.”
Although a defamation claim (even if ‘properly alleged’) might still be hard to prove, Danny Sullivan notes that Google has been inconsistent, if not misleading, in explaining the PageRank score and its relationship to search rankings. Check out his analysis (here’s a snip):
“In short, Google is continuing to make statements that PageRank is objective to the public, but in two court cases now, it has said the scores are subjective. One case as supported its right to make subjective cases. The other has supported a defendants right to challenge if those subjective opinions are fair or defamatory. We’ll see what happens next.”
More in SearchViews: Fresh Off DoJ Split Decision, Google Faces Pagerank Suit.
Topics: Google, Legal Issues |