Editing Google Search (section)

=== Search results quality ===

In 2023, drawing on internal Google documents disclosed as part of the [[United States v. Google LLC (2020)]] antitrust case, technology reporters claimed that Google Search was "bloated and overmonetized"<ref>{{cite web|first1=Charlie|last1=Warzel|access-date=2023-11-07|title=The Tragedy of Google Search|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/google-search-size-usefulness-decline/675409/|date=22 September 2023|website=The Atlantic}}</ref> and that the "semantic matching" of search queries put advertising profits before quality.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/|author=Megan Gray|title=How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet|date=2023-10-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002123158/https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/ |archive-date=October 2, 2023 |quote=This onscreen Google slide had to do with a “semantic matching” overhaul to its SERP algorithm. When you enter a query, you might expect a search engine to incorporate synonyms into the algorithm as well as text phrase pairings in natural language processing. But this overhaul went further, actually altering queries to generate more commercial results.}}</ref> ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' withdrew Megan Gray's piece after Google complained about alleged inaccuracies, while the author reiterated that «As stated in court, "A goal of Project Mercury was to increase commercial queries"».<ref>{{cite news|url=https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1711035354134794529.html|author=Megan Gray|title=Google is controlling the trial w/ its secrecy designations, controlling our searches w/ its greed, and controlling Wired w/ its scare tactics. I wrote an op-ed re Google mucking around w/ organic search to make it more shopping-oriented to gin up ad $. I stand by that. My 🧵 |date=2023-10-08 |publisher=Twitter |via=Thread Reader App |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107170933/https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1711035354134794529.html |archive-date= Nov 7, 2023 }}</ref>

In March 2024, Google announced a significant update to its core search algorithm and spam targeting, which is expected to wipe out 40&nbsp;percent of all spam results.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Barry |date=March 5, 2024 |title=Google releasing massive search quality enhancements in March 2024 core update and multiple spam updates |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-released-massive-search-quality-improvements-with-march-2024-core-update-and-multiple-spam-updates-438144 |website=Search Engine Land}}</ref> On March 20th, it was confirmed that the roll out of the spam update was complete.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Barry |date=20 March 2024 |title=Google March 2024 spam update done rolling out |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-march-2024-spam-update-done-rolling-out-438505 |website=Search Engine Land}}</ref>