Intriguing suggestion by Andrew Lehman:

“It was clear to me that in preparation for going public, Google was actually seeding its searches with inefficiencies in order to encourage profits. Regarding commercial searches, it’s only got worse with time. By embedding top 10 positions with Wikipedia entries, videos and other tangentially related content, commercial businesses continue to be pushed into the second page, forced to pay Google for ad space.

I recently read that Google has decided to place a heavier emphasis on “brand” or conventional corporate websites when deciding how to rank. It is adjusting its algorithm to make it even more difficult for those businesses without deep pockets to achieve rankings. One could call this the oligarchic algorithm.”

More details here.

In a related analysis, Douglas Rushkoff analyses the commercial aspects of Microsoft’s Bing:

“While it’s clear that Bing brings a more prepared and digested Web to users, it’s equally clear to me that Microsoft is preparing and digesting data in a particular way, hoping to promote commerce-driven behaviors in a way information-centric Google does not. The video demo for Bing exposes Microsoft’s bias. Rather than look up an old girlfriend or figure out who won the 1956 Olympic decathalon, the first two searches the narrator launches are for “Home Depot” and an airplane ticket.

That’s why the search engine’s most touted “feature” is the opportunity to get cash back from Microsoft on purchases made from its partner merchants. Sometimes, not always, the 3% or 4% rebate Microsoft promises makes its endorsed merchant the cheapest on the list. While there are no user ratings for various retailers, we presumably assume that if Microsoft has entered into an arrangement with a particular seller, someone in a high place is watching out for us.

And that’s the way it’s ultimately always been with Microsoft, the plantation master of the digital world. Surrender to the Microsoft mother ship, and she—or at least her big crew in Redmond—promises to make you the most productive worker and, now, the most satisfied customer. Instead of relating to users as content creators, evaluators, and meaning makers, Microsoft takes on that role for itself. Microsoft is the parent, taking care of all that critical thinking in the background, so we can get on with the business of life: producing and consuming.”