Is Google using a new Algorithm? Perhaps. Google watchers and online reputation management teams are reporting that Ripoff Report and a few complaint sites seems to have lost some visibility in Google’s search results at the start of November.
Our CEO Pierre Zarokian first noticed the change around November 6th, after he checked different keywords related to his clients. He found only one that was still ranking high on Google search.
On Twitter, as well as on several private forum’s, there was barely any mention of the event at the time. In recent days, others have acknowledged that they have also noticed that something is amiss.
The RipoffReport website is a site where consumers can go to complain about business owners, products, and services. Because the website is listed so high in Google rankings, being listed there can destroy or seriously damage people’s online reputations and businesses. The site has a strict no removal policy, and has even defied court orders which demand the removal of information.
Other complaint sites which have also lost ratings include ScamBook, PissedConsumer, ComplaintsBoard, DirtyScam, and Consumer Affairs.
This has led some industry analysts to conclude that Google has indeed made changes to its algorithm in order to downgrade the ranking of these types of sites.
