Wall Street Journal
By Matt Jarzemsky
Overstock.com Inc. said it has served out the search-engine penalty Google Inc. subjected it to for violating policies that prohibit companies from artificially boosting their ranking in the search engine.
During the penalty time, Google was pushing Overstock further down in the search results.
The case, along with a similar incident involving J.C. Penney Co., demonstrates Google's efforts to thwart attempts to game the system with its search engine, long considered the gold standard of Internet search. Google has faced criticism for not doing a better job weeding out "low quality" sites that offer little value but appear in search results.
Google penalized Overstock for the misstep earlier this year. The Internet retailer had said the incident stemmed in part from its practice of encouraging websites of colleges and universities to post links to Overstock pages so students and faculty could receive discounts. Overstock had said it discontinued the program Feb. 10, before it heard from Google, but some university webmasters were slow to remove the links.
Sites associated with educational institutions, which come with a ".edu" in their Web addresses, are said to be given priority by Google's search algorithm.
"We understand Google's position and we have made changes to remain clearly within their guidelines," Overstock Chief Executive Patrick Byrne said in a news release Monday with the headline, "Overstock.com Released From Google Penalty Box."
Asked for comment, a Google spokesperson said, "Our webmaster guidelines are designed to protect users, and when a site violates them, we take action to preserve a good user experience. We typically don't comment on how specific websites rank in our search results."
