Dear Google: Crappy Results Like This Don't Give The Impression You Care About Search
The debate about what should — and shouldn't — show in a Google search result for “santorum” has been well-documented, at this point. But I'd like to use this now famous search to illustrate something else …
Context & Ripple Effects
The 'santorum' query has been Google's most visible quality embarrassment since the New York Times story in late 2010 punctured its 'gold standard' reputation, and Rick Santorum's Iowa surge earlier this month put his long-running 'Google problem' back in front of primary-season audiences. Search Engine Land's columnist now uses that same famous result page to make a broader argument: sloppy handling of a high-profile query signals Google does not care about search quality.
First-order effects
- Google faces renewed reputational pressure at an awkward moment — the same week it filed its annual SEC report and touted new advertising formats, a widely-read trade column is arguing its flagship product looks neglected.
- The Santorum campaign gets fresh oxygen for its complaint: every column about the result page re-amplifies the very association the candidate wants buried.
Second-order effects
- Rivals like Bing gain a marketing opening on 'quality' positioning, while the episode hands ammunition to regulators already debating whether to investigate Google for how it runs its search engine — a fight Search Engine Land itself weighed into in November 2010.
- A confirmed report that a toolbar controversy exposed how extensively Google meddles with results collides with this criticism, making any 'we just run algorithms' defense harder to sustain publicly.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, search quality stops being a technical curiosity and becomes a standing accountability issue — with insiders reportedly betting Google's PR play is to stay quiet until controversies blow over, each new episode erodes the neutrality defense that has shielded it from intervention.
The trend: Editorial control over search results is shifting from an internal engineering matter to a public and regulatory accountability question, with each high-profile bad result chipping away at the algorithmic-neutrality defense.