search should be open
I think the argument that search has to be closed for SPAM reasons is a very seductive one, but still rather misguided.
As an operator of a number of websites I am in complete thrall to google. They have 95%+ of the search market. Lots of people are employing SEO methods to increase rankings and as such I have no choice but to follow. If our sites are not on page 1 then we don't get customers. We don't get customers we don't eat. etc.
However these services are for the most part snake oil. Complete BS. This exists because nobody really knows the rules.
If you look at the way email operates (still bigger than HTTP traffic I think) there are a number of providers of ANTI-SPAM software (from small to large) which operate on understood rules. Why could there not be an equivalent set of software available to me to help filter out SPAM sites?
Surely it would be better if the "army of good guys" (myself included) could be in a position to help improve the rules that govern spam. To act as a community to help remove bad sites?
Maybe this is pie-in-the-sky but in my experience solutions worked out collectively tend to last longer and have less negatives than closed-door solutions.
And i second the call for both Holy and Evil google icons. I want one.