With the First Amendment behind it, Google is now free to put search results in whatever order it wants, according to a recent ruling by a US court in San Francisco . The company has been fighting to earn this right for years , but it wasn’t until last week that a judge in the Bay Area decided to grant the search giant such a thing, citing freedom of speech as the main influencer in the decision. It all started back when a site known as CoastNews filed a lawsuit arguing that Google was knowingly lowering its rankings in search results ; the tech giant supposedly viewed it like a competitor and, thus, didn’t want it to succeed. Shortly thereafter, Google quickly answered with an anti-SLAPP motion , which is often used by defendants to guard against litigation that would deter free speech . Sure, this doesn’t mean Google will be protected forever from other angry websites, here at home or elsewhere around the globe . But, should a similar lawsuit arise, it does allow the company to argument that a court has already agreed with it once before. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Source: Gigaom
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Court rules Google can arrange search results any way it wants
