If you haven’t seen the New York Times’ article on DecorMyEyes, you are missing out. It is quality reading for anyone interested in how not to do customer service. The story breaks down like this; Clarabelle Rodriguez orders something online, does not get what she ordered, complains, and then gets what has to be the worst customer service in the history of the world. The proprietor then goes on to brag about it online.

Some of the choicest parts of the exchange include the owner of the website saying “Listen, bitch, I know your address. I’m one bridge over” which is apparently a reference to the company’s office in Brooklyn. Mrs Rodriguez says he threatened to find her and commit an act of sexual violence too graphic to describe.

Now, however, Google have responded directly with the issue. In the last few days Google has developed an algorithmic solution which detects the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of other merchants that provide an extremely poor user experience. The algorithm Google incorporated into search rankings represents, they claim, an initial solution to this issue, and Google users are now getting a better experience as a result.

In 4 days, Google just changed their core product to address a concern published in the New York Times that is otherwise minor.

So basically now, negative reviews count heavily against you.