{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "google-does-not-accept-payment-to-rank-or-crawl",
  "slug": "google-does-not-accept-payment-to-rank-or-crawl",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/google-does-not-accept-payment-to-rank-or-crawl/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/google-does-not-accept-payment-to-rank-or-crawl.json",
  "claim": "Google does not accept payment to crawl a site more often or rank it higher",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Pay Google to rank higher\"",
  "verdict": "verified",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "rating": {
    "value": 5,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Google Search Central",
    "title": "In-depth guide to how Google Search works",
    "year": "Current documentation"
  },
  "quote": "Google doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently, or rank it higher. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're wrong.",
  "method": "Official Google documentation (current version read Oct. 17, 2026).",
  "drift": [
    "Ads are paid placements, labeled separately from organic results"
  ],
  "interest": "Google operates Google Search and documents its own systems.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "Google says organic crawling and ranking cannot be bought; paid placement exists only as labeled ads.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Google Search Central — How Search works",
      "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/how-search-works",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "reference_fact",
  "as_of": "Documentation read on 2026-10-17",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-17",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-17",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}