Brett_Tabke - 7:05 pm on Sep 4, 2010 (gmt 0)

There have been veiled allegations (many in these very forums) that the Google algo:

- devalues domains hosting directory sites (editorial link aggregators).
- devalues domains hosting vertical search engines.

While at the same time, Google's spiders have had ravenous appetites for those very same sites. eg: they poach links and run.

The question is if these "devaluations" (if they can be prooved) are intentional actions against a competitor, or valid algo tweaks that increase the quality of Googles product.

Sooner or later, one of these investigations is going to get a chance to crack open the algo code and have a look for themselves. Or - more likely - sooner or later, one of the dozens of ex-programmers is going to start to talk.