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> I dint think it's malicious or even intentional--but at some point they stopped directing traffic to small websites.

Small websites have small dollars?

Does Google get money for directing traffic to sites (barring sites that pay for ad placement, that is)?

If I search for 'astronomy', Google doesnt earn any money whether i go to the Wikipedia page for astronomy, or Joe's astronomy site, right?

Google gets money for showing ads and sponsored content on the search page. If you click on a site with Google ads or Google scripts, it gets more money and monetarizable PII. So its in their interest to prioritize sites with Google ads or Google services, but only Google staffers know exactly how the search algorithm works.

A few years ago they upranked all results on a few trusted domains, so many of those domains filled up with advertising and cheap copywritten content. They framed this as 'fighting misinformation.'

They do earn money when you go to Malory's Astrology page that is full of Google Ads

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