any publicity = good publicity on Google?

This weekend's NYT had an interesting article about an online eyeglass company called DecorMyEyes, whose thug-like business tactics and on-line notoriety have helped the business move up on Google's search results.

DecorMyEyes has built up quite a reputation online as a dishonest retailer that not only cheats its customers but also harasses them and makes death threats (seriously). Somehow the countless complaints online about the company have been translating to higher rankings on Google search results and DecorMyEyes has been getting more and more business as a result.

Although the algorithm used by Google to determine the ranks remains unknown, a big factor is the number of links from respected and substantial Web sites. The more links that a site has from big and well-regarded sites, the better its chances of turning up high in a search. Google does not want to disclose the algorithm because it is afraid that people will try to game the system, but it seems that at least one business owner seems to have found a way to do that without knowing the formula. The owner of DecorMyEyes was quoted as saying: “I’ve exploited this opportunity because it works. No matter where they post their negative comments, it helps my return on investment. So I decided, why not use that negativity to my advantage?”

This article seems to raise some important points about the limitations of Google algorithms and how the system could backfire for unsuspecting consumers. We'd like to think that there is less information asymmetry as a result of consumer comments and blogs, but perhaps we still have ways to go. On the other hand, maybe this is the way it should be: Google doesn't make any guarantees about the quality of the site it displays -- it just shows the most relevant sites. It's a pretty democratic process, albeit misleading for shoppers. So what's the solution? What is Google's responsibility in a situation like this?