You have it entirely backwards. Google has made the only intelligent decision here, by saying that they cannot possibly gauge the quality of all websites manually, and sticking to their guns about doing it programatically. That way, suing them over your position in the rankings is much more difficult because they can prove a lack of favoritism.
Google is making a smart move from a legal CYA perspective. But their bread and butter is ultimately the usefulness of their results, not the objectivity of their algorithm.
This guy has a legit complaint. I'm not a car guy, but I do have several non-tech related interests and it is damned hard to find comprehensive specs, even on manufacturers sites.
As for selling ads vs. selling the content directly, get off your high horse.
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You have it entirely backwards. Google has made the only intelligent decision here, by saying that they cannot possibly gauge the quality of all websites manually, and sticking to their guns about doing it programatically. That way, suing them over your position in the rankings is much more difficult because they can prove a lack of favoritism.
Google is making a smart move from a legal CYA perspective. But their bread and butter is ultimately the usefulness of their results, not the objectivity of their algorithm.
This guy has a legit complaint. I'm not a car guy, but I do have several non-tech related interests and it is damned hard to find comprehensive specs, even on manufacturers sites. As for selling ads vs. selling the content directly, get off your high horse.