Google blacklists BMW, Ricoh Web sites

LONDON — Google Inc. has blacklisted the German Web site of BMW after the Munich-based auto maker allegedly tried to boost the likelihood it would be found in certain Internet searches, according to a “blog” posted by Google employee Matt Cutts.

The “Ricoh.de” Web site was also due to be removed from what Cutts called “our index” for a similar reason, he said. Tokyo-based Ricoh Co. Ltd. supplies office equipment such as printers and photocopiers.

In the blog, Cutts alleged that BMW had violated a rule that is part of Google’s webmaster quality guidelines, namely, “Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users.” Cutts added that although BMW had apparently removed some of the offending pages, he expected Google would require BMW submit a “reinclusion request,” and that BMW would have to identify the person, or persons, responsible for creating the offending pages.  (EE TIMES)