Google's classifieds feature is breaking a rule of bulk ad feed etiquette with its landing page, other search companies say. (eWEEK.com)My word! Internet giant Google Inc. stands accused of an etiquette breach.
The hubbub this week is over recent changes to Google Base, Google's free feature for searching content contributed by its registered users.
Google Base caters to average Joes that want to get rid of an old TV, let's say, but it also gets its listings in bulk from Internet marketing and advertising companies like Careerbuilder.com.
The faux pas in question is that Google now directs every Web browser from Google Base search results to what it calls a landing page, which is a Google-controlled Web site that contains Google's version of the listing's details.
But that's a violation of longstanding custom regarding a traffic-for-bulk ads tradeoff.
Click here to read about complaints from Google customers.
Typically, someone clicking on a listing, known as a feed, from one of these bulk providers, is always directed to the feed's site, not to some other page that potentially reduces the traffic boon.
The search engine Oodle Inc., in its official Weblog this week, called attention to Google's supposed misstep, adding that it and two other search engines that also rely on feeds, SimplyHired Inc. and Indeed, have "made an explicit decision not to do this."
The etiquette issue speaks to a broader point about Google's plummeting public image. Once a rarity, the airing of Google dirty laundry by ex-employees and gripes about Google customer service are usually now only a few search queries away.
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: Rivals Protest: Google Base Diverts Clicks
