Google has just re-engineered its search engine to reduce the search rankings of websites that, according to the company, offer a low grade of information. The move, widely seen as an attempt to improve relationships with newspapers and magazines, seems to be having a severe impact according to analysts of search engine data. Following the change in Google’s search algorithms, many websites that previously ranked highly in certain keyword searches suffered a sharp fall, but some defended their content quality contending that they had been unfairly associated with less reputable sites. At the same time, many high profile news, social networking and retail sites seem to have benefited from the change by surging upwards in Google’s rankings.

To justify the move, Google says that it was directed at sites known as content farms with what it describes as “low quality” content bearing only sufficient information to register in search results when users seek topical or common words, and to attract them to advertising-laden pages. The company estimates that this “major improvement” would affect around 12% of US-based searches, extending to non-US searches in the near future. Their intent is to promote “original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on”, with the emphasis shifting to reward high quality sites.

So far, according to Google, feedback from users has been positive as have evaluations made by hired raters outside the company. One measure regularly made is how quickly users click the back button to exit a search result possibly signifying dissatisfaction with the site. On the other hand some external consultants have pointed up the collateral damage resulting from the change suggesting that legitimate sites have been hit unfairly and that it’s too early to claim overall improvement of search quality. Google didn’t identify any specific sites affected by the change, but many place a heavy reliance on Web traffic occasioned by the company’s searches and even a marginal drop in rankings could negatively impact revenue generated from commercial material on their pages.

At the moment it’s impossible to forecast how these changes may affect online businesses in the long term, and, in the light of conflicting feedback and analysis, the current net material impact is difficult to assess.