I've mentioned this over on the Technology blog, but it also relates to Sprayonmud.com's problem, below. Briefly, an Associated Press story says that KinderStart.com has launched a civil lawsuit in San Diego that "seeks to be certified as a class action representing the owners of all Web sites blacklisted by Google ... since January 2001".
KinderStart's lawsuit alleges Google's policing efforts have penalized Web sites that have done nothing wrong. To make matters worse, the suit alleges the banished sites can't determine how they can restore their standings because the company doesn't explain its actions.
This is, for me, the crux of the issue. Google is not some little pipsqueak company any more: it's a $100 billion multinational corporation with multibillionaire owners, and it's hiring thousands of people a year. Are we supposed to believe they can't find someone to put up a Web page that says which sites they've blacklisted, and why?
