Google Adds More Of Its Own Goodies To Search Results, Despite Antitrust Concerns

Google is now providing photos and other information about local businesses in its search results, an update that puts Google in direct competition with sites like Yelp and comes just weeks after lawmakers grilled Google over allegations it was abusing its search dominance to quash rivals.

Searches for restaurants, hotels, museums and other establishments now present users with a panel, located to the right of results, displaying photos of the interior and exterior of the businesses, a few noteworthy dishes, hours of operation, price details, links to menus and reviews, and transit information (See screenshot below). Google said in a blog post that it will be rolling out the feature, already available for some queries, in "the coming weeks."

Though several of the links in the new pane direct users to third-party sites, such as OpenTable, Seamless and Citysearch, Google's own products are featured front and center. Search for Hill Country, and you'll find the map is from Google Maps, the directions are from Google Maps, the transit information is from Google Maps, and the photos are from Google Maps. Zagat, which Google acquired earlier this year, also appears in some results.

Google is claiming even more real estate in search for itself, a move that is bound to bother rival sites, like Yelp and Citysearch, as the search giant's colorful new feature makes clicking on to other sites' offerings less attractive and less necessary. After all, why click on Yelp -- which appears only as a blue link among a dozen others -- when you can get everything you need directly from Google? Yelp did not immediately return a request for comment on the matter.

Google explained the tool using the same rationale it has given for similar updates in the past: It will make users' lives easier.

"Our goal in making changes to the way we present search results is to get people the information they’re looking for as quickly and effortlessly as possible," a Google spokeswoman said in an email.

Google's claims of convenience aren't likely to have lawmakers cheering, however.

The new search feature looks to be a risky move on Google's part given that precisely this behavior -- showcasing Google products, from restaurant reviews to flight information, in Google search results -- triggered a Senate antitrust hearing that probed Google's practices and potential abuses.

At the time, lawmakers seemed unconvinced by Google chairman Eric Schmidt's explanations, and charged that the company had "cooked" results to come up on top.

Schmidt said he was "not aware of any unnecessary or strange boosts or biases" given to Google's own products, an answer Senator Al Franken dubbed "pretty fuzzy."

Comments

[PragmaticStatistic]

08:24 PM on 11/02/2011

Please do not confuse MyReadingMapped as a Google product because it uses Google Map technology to produce free interactive maps of historic events like Stanley finds Dr. Livingstone, Stanley rescues Emin Pasha, or Schwatka's search for Sir John Franklin. 20 of these maps enable you to read free 100+ year old eBooks by famous explorers like Stanley, Mungo Park, Marco Polo, Lewis and Clark, and others and enables you to zoom in close on the actual locations they traveled in Google Map, complete with a quote about the location and page reference. Other maps cover ancient ruins, a comparison of Aztec, Egyptian, Inca,Mayan, and Chinese pyramids, environmental disasters and the sunken ships of the Atlantic and Pacific.

[chey06akili]

04:47 PM on 11/02/2011

IMO Google has too many darn ads on the net.I personally never click on any of their ads an I rarely use their search engine.I can't figure out why people click on ads anyway.I search for what I want and then go to the site of the seller.I like to be an independent thinker and Google likes to think for you.They are getting "too big to fail",they are almost a monoply and they have too much information about individuals."Big Brother" from Madison Ave.

[YLS2007]

07:58 PM on 11/02/2011

If you use Firefox with Ad Blocker and Ghostery add-ons, you will never see even 1 ad. It works really well on this site as well. Without it, I would never be on it...

[planetjeffy]

05:42 AM on 11/03/2011

I make a (nice) living setting up paid google ads, google place pages and organic search for my clients. My job is to deliver relevant results to people searching for what my clients have to offer. Google even offers incentives to its advertisers to do this. Advertising is not evil. It even pays for this website you are spending a good chunk of your time on.

btw...organic results are easily manipulated and you are not as independent as you think you are

[Chris Angulo]

04:32 PM on 11/02/2011

5 Major points as Google plays with their algorithm and objective to make as much money as possible. This is merely a summary in how I see it.

1. Google Search Services Introduced (Maps, Shopping, etc...) 2007

2. Google Caffeine enters the mix allowing for more content to be indexed and at faster rates over time. Now more webmasters taste free Google traffic.

3. Adwords accounts sore as more people are introduced to Google, hence driving bid prices through the roof through.

4. Google Panda enters in the mix to re-regulate internet content biased toward brand power (who has the biggest wallet). Think of Panda as a safety mechanism to ensure revenue balance is in check. Too many sites with good information that competes with Google enable this Kung Fu Panda Revenue checking beast.

5. Any attempts to scrap content yourself in which Google is doing themselves will reward you with the Google beatstick and your business will suffer if you rely on Google for income.

Outcomes:
1. Small businesses are pushed out of competition by too many ads on pages and Google using their own services to push competitors out of the mix.

2. Google Adword prices are controlled by large conglomerates and don't allow small business to compete without straining their budgets. Ads have a quality score behind them which favors big brands just naturally in how their scoring works.

3. Google revenues sore while the whole internet is controlled and regulated by Google.

[planetjeffy]

05:44 AM on 11/03/2011

panda was all about local and it help local businesses over national brands
if you think you are priced out of adwords - you are not doing it right
contact me

[durant]

04:14 PM on 11/02/2011

Al Franken (cited near the end of the article) clearly doesn't understand the difference between user interface (UI) and search algorithms. Google Universal Search (the UI approach that Google employs these days) is a blend of organic Web Search results, organic Image Search results, YouTube search results, Google Maps, and so on. There's nothing sneaky about displaying results from Google services other than plain-vanilla Web search on Google's SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages); those other results are integrated into "Universal Search" by design.

[WilhelmKein]

03:40 PM on 11/02/2011

I'm still mad at Google for getting rid of the Real Estate function on their maps.

[planetjeffy]

05:47 AM on 11/03/2011

that does suck
they must have something bigger planned for real estate professionals - since it is so poorly done on the web by everyone else

[ScottNY]

03:34 PM on 11/02/2011

As much as I like their search engine. Google very soon will have a scary monopoly. They could end up as the sole gateway to the Internet for millions of people. They will have control of information in the 21st century.

Already there have been reports of websites suddenly being buried in the search results because they have a website that offers a product or service that directly competes with them or a client/partner.

[MSaxe]

02:39 PM on 11/02/2011

Google's been working on their local "Google Places" listings extensively over the past year. Any business with that is essentially local already has a page devoted to them, waiting for them to claim them.

Google is doing everything possible to disintermediate AdSense sites that monetize with AdWords ads. These sites have made a business generating content that Google searches and lists highly as relevant. But all that happens is that when the user goes there and clicks an AdWords ad, Google gets charged a fee by the site. Why pay someone for something that their algorithm can simply list or with content Google creates for itself.

Can you say "Panda"?

[JamesAndre]

01:47 PM on 11/02/2011

Good. Not a fan of Yelp. Google gathers the info, they can use it. There are other strong competitors in the space who would do the same thing if they had thought of it, and now probably will.

[Chris Angulo]

04:14 PM on 11/02/2011

Well, this is why Google thought of that first with Google Panda. If they try, they will suffer greatly by being hit by a penalty. It's really just that simple.

[planetjeffy]

05:49 AM on 11/03/2011

Yelp listings still show up well in search, but google is promoting their own brand - which is fair. Yelp has phone apps which bypass search engines all together. I doubt they are giving Google Places free advertising on their apps.

[SuperBenFranklin]

12:35 PM on 11/02/2011

Google is just an ad business. And they will continue to try to own as much of that business as possible.

The customer is not you. They don't care about helping you find information.

They care about selling you to advertisers.

At some point, maybe now, search quality will suffer, because they don't really care about you, they just care about their customers, the advertisers they sell you to.

[BIGELLOW]

01:17 PM on 11/02/2011

Of course, what's misleading about your statement is the fact that this change by Google means people are less likely to click ads and more likely to just visit Google Maps to access the information.

[signinname]

02:30 PM on 11/02/2011

You're only sort of right. Google is a marketing company. That's all. Just like any other company, they market their own stuff.

Think about it...
Search has a giant logo everywhere + ads that say Google (and get Google more money) and customer information tracking. Gmail has those three, plus it's another free service to entice people. Same with Google +, same with translate, shopping, reader .... and now it's the same with Android and Chrome. Google owns all that stuff and our customer information while we get several nearly universally used free services from it.

All Google needs to do to defend itself is say - um, yeah but it's our stuff. We own it. Deal with it. Google OWNS its search, the information you have provided to them, and their products.

If you pay me money to put your ad on my site, and I put it on, our deal is done.
If you don't pay me to put you on my site, and I don't put you on my site or bury you in my sites' results, why is that now a problem? Is it just because I'm the bigger kid on the playground?

[WillCooney]

12:30 PM on 11/02/2011

I don't know what I did before Google and, any improvements they make are fine as far as I'm concerned. The quicker and better the information I can get, the more likely they'll have my business.

[planetjeffy]

05:56 AM on 11/03/2011

imagine having all the world's knowledge at your fingertips
or in your pocket (via your phone)
it is really amazing when you think about it