Google continues to be the undisputed champion among web search engines. As such, many businesses (particularly small businesses) rely heavily on traffic from Google to drive traffic to their web sites. For many, this Google-generated traffic is a major source of revenue. This has resulted in an entire industry devoted to the practice of optimizing websites for the Google rankings.

The more I think about the whole Google ranking thing, the more concerned I get that Google has a little too much power that goes unchecked.

I compare this somewhat to your personal credit rating. I’m not sure how it works elsewhere, but here in the U.S. your credit rating is used for a number of things – like your ability to get loans. As such, it’s a relatively important number as it impacts your financial future. The credit rating is calculated based on your past financial history. You have the right to know when institutions are inquiring about your credit rating and also to see a report on what has impacted the rating (positively or negatively). Should you find an error in your record, you have some recourse to try and get it fixed.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Google Ranking may be even more important to you than your credit rating, there is little that you can discover about your ranking calculation and little recourse you have if something is wrong.

Google as Judge, Jury and Prosecutor

1. Disclosure: Should you have a right to know how your Google ranking was calculated? There is a general consensus about the key elements of the algorithm used. But, should you be allowed to at least know what historical “facts” are being used in the calculation? What if they get it wrong?

2. Disputes: Should there be an error in a piece of data used to calculate your Google ranking, should you have some way to dispute the calculation and get it resolved? Should Google have any obligation to investigate these reported errors – and do a little more than send you a form letter?

3. Arbitration: Should you and Google ultimately disagree on the calculation, should Google really be allowed to be judge and jury? Or, is it acceptable that they can decide to do whatever they want (or ignore disputes completely)?

4. Blacklisting: Do you know for sure that issues you have with one Google product (such as AdSense) does not negatively impact your rankings? If you have ever had an AdSense account that was terminated (rightfully or wrongfully), does this influence your Google rankings for that site? Should Google be able to blacklist a site permanently at their discretion? Will I get blacklisted for simply writing this? How will I ever know? Chances are, if I apply for other Google partnerships (like AdSense), my rejection letter would be polite, but ambiguous (just like everything else that comes out of Google).

5. Malicious Actions: Should you be the target of a malicious attack by a third-party (such as a competitor) that has deep knowledge of Google’s algorithm, can they significantly impact your Google ranking? How would you know? What could you do about it?

Overall, my issue is simply that Google has acquired a lot of power and can directly impact a lot of businesses. Though their corporate mantra is “Do No Evil”, is this sufficient to give us the comfort and confidence we need? What if Google makes a mistake? Issues with the AdSense program abound. Many people seem to have been wrongfully terminated (see Times Online Article), without any warning or recourse. But, with the Google search ranking algorithm, you could be being penalized and not even know it. Worse, the penalty could have come through know conscious act of your own – and could even be from a malicious third-party. You would neither know nor be able to fix it.

I understand and appreciate that Google is an independent company and that we as consumers use their service “at will” (i.e. nobody is holding a gun to our heads). But, anytime an organization amasses the kind of power that Google has now, it may be meaningful to think about the implications and whether any minimal controls should be put in place to ensure fairness and transparency.

But, I’m likely just dreaming here. What do you think? Am I being overly paranoid?