incrediBILL - 7:15 pm on Nov 28, 2012 (gmt 0)

those algos are editorial decisions.

Since when is displaying a snippet that best matches the search terms "editorial"?

If you always got the same snippet and it wasn't a snippet pre-defined in the meta description, then I'd agree it was an editorial decision. However, as we all know, if you alter the search terms it will alter the snippet displayed to include those terms if possible. Therefore the problem is how do you remove something that doesn't actually exist short of removing the found page in the first place which was the source that generated the snippet.

If it were the Yahoo directory which always has a fixed response or an RSS newsfeed display then I'd agree it was editorial and also easily removed.

Not that I'm on Google's side here, I'm on the side of all webmasters as the integral search on any website which is a mere query into a SQL database could now be deemed 'editorial'. People jump up and down when Google gets shot in the foot but the next time you jump you might feel a sharp pain as you find out you were shot in the foot too.

Apples, oranges and technologically inept law.