SEO: Will Google have to reveal the secrets of its search algorithm?

The decision that Google must make should not leave the SEO sphere indifferent. In a trial that opened in 2012 before the British High Court of Justice, the American multinational is accused by Foundem, a price comparison site, of anti-competitive practices: Google is said to have demoted its products in the results of search for its engine from 2006. The American firm must now choose between the disclosure of the secrets of its algorithm or the withdrawal of confidential documents provided as part of this trial.

The origins of the case: abuse of a dominant position by Google

While only accessible to a handful of users, Foundem always appeared on the first page in search results offered by Google on shopping-related queries. As the New York Times describes , two days after its opening to the general public, the British price comparator fell sharply in the Google index, tens or even hundreds of pages from its initial positioning.

Proof of an abuse of a dominant position on the part of the engine in favor of its Google Shopping service, Foundem managed at the same time to maintain its positions in the SERPs of other search engines. The company filed a complaint in 2012 with the British High Court of Justice and asked Google for damages for the losses suffered.

To prove his innocence in this case, Google provided a series of confidential documents through two engineers, Cody Kwok and Michael Pohl. These exhibits aim to ” explain the functioning and the objectives of Google’s ranking algorithms, and how they were applied to shopping comparison sites in general and to Foundem in particular “, according to judge Roth in charge of this case .

An independent SEO expert appointed, Google tries to discredit him

Foundem replied by saying that these documents, which were supposed to provide a better understanding of how Google’s search algorithm works, were too technical for British magistrates. The latter thus granted Foundem the possibility of appointing an independent SEO expert, who would be authorized to examine these confidential documents: it is Philipp Kloeckner .

The expert would thus have access to what the British now call ” the crown jewels ” of Google, which the Mountain View firm tries to avoid by all means. ” The integrity of Google’s ranking processes is based on the fact that all webmasters or website owners have the same degree of access to information on Google’s ranking … This will no longer be the case if information of this type are made available to some people offering business services to help improve their search rankings , “defends Google.

The American engine even tried to discredit Philipp Kloeckner before the British court, arguing that the expert had worked for Trivago and Visual Meta, two companies which have already complained to the European Commission about anti-competitive practices against him, to replace him by its two own experts, to no avail. “It is fundamental that a party to the dispute is not required to appoint as its own expert a person proposed by the other party, ” said Justice Roth.

The dilemma Google is facing and its consequences

In mid-March, the British High Court of Justice granted Google a ” reasonable time ” to make its choice: either it allows expert Philipp Kloeckner to view these documents, with the risk that the entire SEO community may know the secrets of his algorithm once the case has been made public, or he withdraws his confidential documents, which will result in making him actually guilty of abuse of a dominant position in the trial between him and Foundem.

As a third alternative, Google could also offer the comparator to find an amicable agreement with millions of euros in damages. If this choice allows him not to have to reveal what constitutes the heart of his search algorithm, he implies that Google would admit his guilt in this case, which would open the way to other web players who are also victims of anti-competitive practices of the search engine. In either case, Google will have to make a choice, which should have far-reaching consequences within the SEO community.