[mMark]

It's terrible in that a lot of the times smaller organic sites are much more relevant than big-box "trusted" sites. That's why organic search algorithms are good.

Furthermore, there's a terrible burden for startups moving into certain spaces if suddenly you can't get ranked because you're not a Trusted source.

Plus, controlling search engine neutrality or listing position is not the business of the government or rightsholder. Remember, Google is a private entity.

[feralchimp]

So instead of framing it in terms of "promoting known-legit" sites, what about "demote known-sketchy" sites?

Does that help your concerns about effects on unknowns, startups, etc? All the non-sketchy results should still be organically ranked, right?