Search Optimization and Its Dirty Little Secrets

With more than 1,100 stores and $17.8 billion in total revenue in 2010, [J.C.] Penney is certainly a major player in American retailing. But Google’s stated goal is to sift through every corner of the Internet and find the most important, relevant Web sites. … Does the collective wisdom of the Web really say that Penney has the most essential site when it comes to dresses? And bedding? And area rugs? And dozens of other words and phrases?”

The New York Times