Yes they are...well, kinda anyway.

Google has recently announced the introduction of their search wiki, which allows you to alter the positions, delete, comment, and even add new search results. If you don't think a result is worthy of its position, you can move it down! If you like the result you can comment on it, or even vote it up in the rankings too.

Now these changes will only affect the results when signed into your very own Google user account, and they do not affect the rankings that any other person sees. However, it is debatable how Google will implement this ranking tool ( if at all ) in their future algorithmic updates as patterns start to occur. I myself see this as a big step towards something that could change Google's listings forever. If similar patterns occur across the board, then I find it really hard to believe that Google would not implement such results into their algorithm development somehow.

When Google was questioned about this, they sounded skeptical:

Dupont was noncommittal about whether the company planned to build in that feedback loop, either directly as a signal to influence search rankings or indirectly as extra data that could help the company judge the relevance of its search results. But he certainly didn't rule the idea out.

"We don't close any doors. We constantly evaluate signals" that are incorporated into the search results algorithm. "Search is adapting to the Internet as it becomes a more participatory medium. Now you have people telling us specific things about how they'd like to see their search results."

This is a great tool for Google to use in their fight against spam, and it's only a matter of time until they introduce it into their algorithmic calculations.

In conclusion, this could be the final nail in the coffin for sites that offer little to the community, and with an ever changing and dynamic environment such as the web, handing a certain bit of control over to the public can only be good thing in my opinion.

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