PC Magazine debates the irony that scam sites prevail in Google and on its product search.. In fairness to Google, even if they are reported, should Google act as a better business bureau in terms of investigating the complaints for removal?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20071121/tc_zd/220073
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=40052 http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769
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No, I think Google shouldn't remove any page. If there's something scammy happening then you can take down the source, if it's illegal in context of locally applicable laws. What they can do (and actually do) is show a disclaimer for some pages, like those containing malware. I think it's best to think of Google or any other search engine as a tool like a camera: it can record the good and the bad stuff. Camera makers aren't made to introduce mechanisms so you can't record a crime anymore. You still can, but the crime doesn't originate in the camera. In fact, using the camera you might be able to uncover and report on crimes to then help battle them. Or do we want to keep these tools to some authorized "guardians" watching over us... the other adults of the same society? |
UPDATE:
Talk about a coincidence. This article was released a few days ago
http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/breaking-massive-amounts-of-malware.html
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http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-removes-malware-sites-but-doesnt-admit-there-was-a-problem/6032/
Update: The negative publicity gets the SPAM Malware sites deleted |