Google did have a propensity to favor negative information; potentialprostitutes and ripoffreports were good examples that rose through the rankings at lightning speed. Duplicate content didn't seem to matter, there were some 200 websites listing the same collection of 17.3 million mugshots between 2012 and 2016. The fact that 30% of those folks were exonerated or had the charges against them dropped also did not seem to matter; the first 50 search results were dominated by smutshot websites all listing the exact same information and offered removal for a fee. Those that paid found that the next batch of websites rose to the top to replace the ones that were taken down.

So much for duplicate content rejection :/

All I will add to this story is that I know for a fact that most SEO experts have no clue how that was done, and have no tools to counteract such an attack. Evil? Absolutely! ..but who...

The EU slapped Google with a $2.7 Billion fine for search result manipulation and another $5 Billion fine for pushing their Android Apps. Yeah, that's a "B"