Google Puts Big Companies at the Top. I Trusted Them Once. It Cost Me.

When I search on Google, the results at the top are mostly big companies. For a long time, I thought that was a sign of trust. So I trusted them. And I lost money.

Until Two Years Ago, I Only Used Yahoo!

I worked on a factory floor for 40 years. Until I started a blog after I retired, I thought Yahoo! was enough for searching. I almost never used Google. That was my life.

After I started the blog, I began to use a tool called Rakko Keyword. It shows what words people search for. When I actually looked at Google search results, I noticed something.

The sites at the top are almost all big companies. Comparison sites, finance media, insurance shops, big insurance agencies. I could hardly find any personal blogs.

Google Puts Big Companies at the Top for Trust, I Think

Why do big companies come to the top? I think Google wants to make sure the information can be trusted. A big organization, checks by experts, and a lot of information. I think Google sees that as good content, at least in part.

But when I was looking up life insurance, I noticed something. A big insurance company that had once been scolded by the Financial Services Agency, the government agency that oversees financial services in Japan, was right there near the top. It was lined up in the results as a trusted source.

Wait a minute. That is what I thought.

I Believed the Insurance Salesman Completely. I Was Eating a Poison Mushroom

For a long time, I believed what the insurance salesman told me. When the person in charge said, “You need this,” I thought, “I see,” and I signed up. I did not really doubt it.

I studied insurance to write my blog, and only then did I understand. For years, I had kept paying for insurance I did not need. I kept paying premiums I did not have to pay. Looking back now, my honest feeling is: “Give me my money back.”

I do not think the salesman meant me harm. But I had a belief. If a big company says it, it is right. If the person in charge recommends it, it cannot be wrong. That belief dulled my judgment.

That Is Why I Write a Personal Blog

The reason I started a blog after I retired is simple. I cannot live on my pension alone. I want a way to bring in another 30,000 yen, or 50,000 yen if I can. That is all it is.

But as I kept writing, I found one more reason. My own story is something only I can write. Big media do not have the real voice of a man in his 60s who worked on a factory floor for 40 years. They also cannot write the story of a man who lost money on insurance and only found out later by studying.

Google AI Mode has spread, and now a summary comes up when you search. It feels convenient in a way. But there are times when I want to read a real voice. When I want to know how it actually went, a summarized answer alone does not feel like enough.

If personal blogs can survive, I think that is where they can do it.

I Am Not Saying to Doubt Big Companies. It Is Just One Way to See It

There is a certain logic in Google putting big companies at the top. The amount of information, how often it is updated, the expert knowledge. I do not deny that.

But being at the top does not always mean the information is right for you. Just like with my insurance, what is good for a big company and what is good for one person do not always match.

I lost money, and only then did I finally notice this. It was late, but I noticed.

Update (July 2026): A Seat Even Higher Than the Big Companies

After I wrote this article, I noticed one more thing I want to be careful about. It is the Sponsor box that comes up at the very top of the search results.

I use an AI called Suno to make music. When I tried searching for suno ai, the first thing at the top was a box marked Sponsor Ad.

That day, it was the real official site. But that box is not at the top because the search ranked it highest. Someone paid money and bought that seat. Google also does not promise that what is inside is correct.

The Most Dangerous Time Is When You Search in a Hurry

You lost your key. Water is leaking. The car will not move.

Searches made when you want to fix something right now are the most dangerous. There is no time to get quotes from several companies, so you just call the first company at the top.

I looked into it and was surprised. According to the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, the number of consultations about emergency home services, such as water repair, lock opening and pest control, passed 7,000 in fiscal 2023. That is more than four times the number from ten years earlier.

The tricks were listed too. One person saw an ad for water repair from 950 yen, asked for the work, and it came to several hundred thousand yen. Another person saw a price of 390 yen, called them, and was billed 550,000 yen. A quote that was supposed to be free cost money. People were pushed into an expensive contract on the spot. People who said no were charged a cancellation fee. Many cases like these were listed.

The more hurried people are, the more they click the one at the top.

It Was Not Only a Japanese Story

I wondered about it, so I looked it up in English too. The same thing was happening.

In the United States, a state consumer protection office warns people about this by name. Scam companies pay for strong search keywords to come up at the top. They line up several phone numbers, and when you call, they all go to the same call center. They even buy reviews to look highly rated.

Lawmakers in the United States have been saying the same thing for some time. In 2020, members of the House and the Senate sent a joint letter to the FTC, the national office in the United States that protects consumers. It was about scam ads shown to people who searched for when their COVID relief payment would arrive.

According to the letter, every time an ad is clicked, the company that placed the ad pays Google one to two dollars.

I am not saying Google does this with bad intent. But that box sits on top of a system that makes more money the more it is clicked. That is the one thing I want to keep in mind.

Even in a different country, the way they target people in a hurry seems to be the same.

There Is Only One Thing I Can Do About It

Before I click, I take one look to check for the word Sponsor. If it is there, I choose from the normal search results below it.

That is all, but it should work best exactly when I am in a hurry.

I wrote about big companies lined up at the top. Above even those big companies, there is a seat bought with money. The order is not always the order of trust.

(Sources: National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, on water repair from 950 yen that turned into a bill of several hundred thousand yen / Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Locksmith Scams / Letter from Rep. Schakowsky and Sen. Blumenthal to the FTC, 2020)

Google trusts big companies. I did too, once. Now I look things up myself and write myself. That is all it is.