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Google is getting ready for a day in court, after a precedent-setting move by a Florida judge who denied the search engine giant’s motion to dismiss a case that could redefine how businesses engage in search engine optimization. The case is especially noteworthy, as most previous challenges based on Google’s search results have resulted in immediate dismissal.
Google claims the plaintiff, e-ventures Worldwide LLC, engaged in “search engine manipulation” in order to cause its websites to be ranked higher in Google’s search results, stating that doing so was “bad behavior” that had to be deterred. Consequently, Google summarily de-indexed hundreds of the plaintiff’s websites without review or redress. The de-indexing was not based on algorithmic rules or webmaster guidelines, but rather, subjectively applied based on an anonymous tip from an unnamed third party…
