To be part of Google’s SERPs is deemed so vitally important to web site owners that KinderStart.Com has sued Google for Anti-trust violations asserting its rights under the Sherman Act of 1964, as well as Lanham Act false representation claims, free speech violation, defamation and unfair competition under California state law. The claimant brought the suit when it saw a 70 percent drop in monthly traffic in March 2006 and an 80 percent drop in AdSense revenue. KinderStart at one point had a first page ranking for competitive terms, but saw its ranking nearly disappear from the radar, which coincided with its drop in revenue.

Google did manage to get the case kicked, but this case may open up the search giant to more and more litigation as other companies try to match their fortunes with Google and the rankings their web sites receive. The suit did not assert a claim against Yahoo the next closest competitor of Google, with roughly half the market share. Google, with such a large market share stands to take the brunt of the frustration of online store owners’ and black hat SEO’s who see their client’s sites disappear from the rankings.

"Google is so large it runs the risk of slamming into the kind of situation that Microsoft found itself in, in terms of bundling its services together," said Robert B. Reich, former labor secretary in the Clinton administration and now professor at the University of California's Goldman School of Public Policy.

This does not mean that Google has done anything wrong, or does it mean Google is likely to loose any similar suits. However, it does put Google square in the cross hairs of any frustrated business owner who can point to a revenue reduction which happens to occur during the time their Google rankings fluctuate.

Google was praised recently by many ethical search engine optimization consultants called “white hats” for removing BMW’s German web site for cloaking its web site so that searchers saw one page, while the search engines saw a separate page designed to enhance BMW's place in rankings. Yet, BMW could just as easily have brought a similar suit. The only thing protecting Google is that BWM was re-listed in a relatively short time frame, in addition to the fact that Google’s webmaster guidelines expressly state “no cloaking”.

The bottom line is that Google and now YouTube (the leading video sharing site on the web) have a tough road ahead, especially in terms of defending themselves against many frivolous law suits, and perhaps even a few suits with merit. That is the price one must pay when they are just too good for their own good.