Google Tweaks Search to Weed Out Bad Businesses

Apparently bad customer service will no longer snag you a spot at the top of Google search results. The search giant announced yesterday that, in the wake of an article about an online retailer who did just that, it will change the way it ranks search results to avoid similar situations. Google's new algorithm can detect merchants who provide bad service, according to the company's blog.

Google didn't reveal specifics because it doesn't want retailers to find any loopholes. It appears to be working so far: The New York Times, which ran the original article prompting this change, says that the bullying retailer used to show up on the first page when searching for "Christian Audigier" and "eyeglasses," but no longer showed up anywhere in the first 20 pages as of last night.