Google has been been burying TripAdvisor search results underneath its own search results even when users specifically use “tripadvisor” as a keyword.
Naturally, this gives companies like TripAdvisor and Yelp some new ammo in their frequent complaints that Google is stifling competition in local search.
Oh @Google you do what now? pic.twitter.com/zfIcXOu65Z
— Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) November 22, 2015
Gimme a break, @google. Search for "tripadvisor hilton" puts the tripadvisor link so far down you can't see it. https://t.co/fy1yO7ukDq
— stephen kaufer (@kaufer) November 22, 2015
.@kaufer no limit to how far @google will go, tricking consumers when they ask for Yelp or Trip. Everybody loses. pic.twitter.com/Ft6Epniws4
— Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) November 22, 2015
.@kaufer @google local is 1/3rd of all search when your monopoly is threatened guess you can rationalize anything.
— Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) November 22, 2015
.@Colin_Sebastian @kaufer seems to vary a bit and maybe by geoip. Check this one out @amazon! pic.twitter.com/AkC8E577Q0
— Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) November 22, 2015
@jeremys *seeing the same thing in Ft. Worth today pic.twitter.com/fUPxCf2Qgg
— Dave Craige (@davecraige) November 23, 2015
According to Re/Code, Google has brushed the whole thing off as a bug:
Nope, it’s a bug, claims Google. “The issues cited were caused by a recent code push, which we’re working quickly to fix,” a Google spokeswoman said.
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman tweeted this:
Google sounding about as truthful as Trump, web search becoming a dirty business of burying your competition. https://t.co/r8Jd0cGQuJ
— Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) November 24, 2015
Image via Wikimedia Commons
