[spyrosk]

Seriously. Tweaking your search algorithms to the detriment of some providers and to the benefit of others is one thing (that Google does now, and which they won't be sued for). Deliberately removing a direct competitor with as high a profile (and deep pockets) as Facebook is a different kettle of fish.

Ok, I can understand that. So, what if all results from *.facebook.com were moved after the first few pages of google's results for the relevant search terms?

Would that be enough for an antitrust lawsuit?

As for the target group of users we are discussing, it would have virtually the same results.

[notahacker]

Removing Facebook from searches for Facebook or people's names wouldn't just invite investigation, it would damage Google's credibility as a search engine. Penalising the Facebook content farm consisting of Wikipedia articles plus lists of fans would probably be a net positive though.

[spyrosk]

In the post you replied to I said that google could manipulate the search results to change facebook's pagerank, not dropping them entirely. Just so that results from the domain appear on the second or third page.