Algorithmic flux or selective penalization? Nobody’s sure and nobody that can answer is talking so far, but paid link directories have been plummeting in Google search results. Many are not ranking for their own business name, according to reports, even though webmasters have not received penalty notices.

There’s no need to get Tipper Gore involved or anything. No need to relive that old Twisted Sister mess. But neither MySpace, Fox, nor the band in question has returned requests for comment, and usually, if somebody doesn’t want to talk about it, then it probably should be talked about.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have tossed quite a bit of money at Tesla Motors, but they did so as private individuals.  Now there’s word that Google itself could get behind another automotive effort.

The people and organizations that form the focus of stories appearing on Google News will be able to add their comments to articles featuring them.

There have always been pro-union people and anti-union people, and you can usually guess who’s what depending on their individual caste. In this case, though it carries with it the same arguments, it will have to be decided first if an industry has emerged from nebulous existence and into a viable, thriving industry.

As predictable as daylight, AT&T isn’t happy about Google’s plan to bid on the 700MHz wireless spectrum. The telecommunications giant is poised to claw any competition out of the equation, and is hoping its traditional ally, the FCC, will have its back again.

How would you feel about your ISP digging into the stuff you send out to check for pirated content? Sounds kind of Big-Brotherish, doesn’t? A sort of TSA for your data packets. Enter Ma Bell and the Copyright Police.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Jakob Nielsen for a series I’m doing for Search Engine Land about what the search results page will look like in 2010.  Jakob is called a "controversial guru of Web design" in Wikipedia (Jakob gets his own shots in at Wikipedia in this interview) because of his strongly held views on the use of graphics and flash in web design.