Google's new search formula results in some unhappy websites

Google won plaudits for promoting original research and analysis and banishing pages littered with second-rate content or overloaded with advertising. But the revision to its secret mathematical formula that determines the best answers to a searcher's query also caused an uproar as hundreds of sites complained to Google that they had been unfairly lumped in with "content farms," which churn out articles with little useful information to drive more traffic to their sites.

Google won't discuss which websites it was targeting or how it revised its algorithm. It says it's pleased with the results, even as it acknowledges that with the rapid evolution and vast expanse of the Web, it has to be constantly vigilant to make sure its search engine finds what users want. "Our primary goal is to make sure we return the best websites we can," said Matt Cutts, who leads Google's spam-fighting efforts. "No algorithm can be 100% accurate." Such a major change to its algorithm was a rare admission from the world's most powerful search engine that it was being flooded by spammers and hucksters who were manipulating Google to land in the top search results. Google became one of the most powerful Internet companies by sifting through billions of Web pages and, with just a few words as a clue, guiding millions of people to what they seek on the Web.