How Google dominated search and forced a reporter to delete her story
- And, Google made it mandatory to add Plus recommendations to stories along with others like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and so on.
- Google said the 'Plus would be important if the story wants to appear in Search'.
- Google spokesperson said that the meeting that discussed these factors was confidential and a non disclosure agreement.
FollowThere are no brownie points for guessing that Google dominates the Search market. The search data monopolising engine has been often pulled up by the EU, and was also slapped with $2.7 billion fine.
The New York Times published a report stating how The New America Foundation, which is a major think tank, got rid of its scholars. The reason - he and his group reportedly repeatedly criticised Google. Now, Google is a major funder and was allegedly appalled by the team applauding European Commissions’ decision for the $2.7 billion fine. The post was taken down, republished and finally the group was fired.
Now, there is no concrete confirmation whether the group was fired due to Google. However, this has led to a reporter (via Gizmodo) revealing how she was forced to unpublish a story talking negatively about Google. This was around the time the failed 'Google plus' was launched to combat Facebook's rising power.
And, Google made it mandatory to add Plus recommendations to stories along with others like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and so on. While the other mentioned companies may also coax you to do so, but Google said the 'Plus would be important if the story wants to appear in Search. She confirmed this bit with the Google PR too.
Google spokesperson said that the meeting that discussed these factors was confidential and a non disclosure agreement (which she clearly hadn't signed) had been signed between two companies. To ensure her publication isn't troubled, she choose to unpublish the article result'. This was in 2011, and Google was the most crucial source for traffic.
However, in sometime the story disappeared from Search results completely. "Google said it never urged New America to fire Lynn and his team. But an entity as powerful as Google doesn’t have to issue ultimatums. It can just nudge organisations and get them to act as it wants, given the influence it wields," the report adds.
History has proven that there shouldn't be too much dependency on a single entity. Remember, Microsoft's monopolising ways?
