All I can think of is that either there’s some funky LSI (latent semantic indexing) happening where other words that Google believes are related to “medical malpractice” appear on my post, or maybe I’ve been doing something very wrong in my optimizations.

On your questions, if competitors are publishing false and malicious statements about you or your business, that’s the very definition of libel. You need legal assistance here, and should go after your competitor where it counts, their pocketbook.

I don’t know the laws on libel, and am not aware of there being any different laws for electronic libel vs. print, but I know at least here in the U.S. you can take someone to court for any reason and force them to defend their actions or words, and that’s exactly what I would do if I were in your shoes.

I can understand why Google wouldn’t be any help with this. If you think about it they’re acting in the best way they can, even though it’s frustrating for you I’m sure.

But, if they allowed your complaints to cause them to change their search results in any way, then they would also have to allow others to force tweaks, which could include your competitor having every listing for you removed ultimately. That’s just a giant can of worms Google, nor any search engine, wants to open up.

I’m not sure if my friend is active on Etsy or not, but that’s a great tip and I will pass it along.

Thanks and good luck, I wish you the best.

Relevancy notwithstanding, can you tell me how one can respond to malicious and false postings by competitors when Google will not help victims? My practice has been destroyed by one such person, I am no longer hiding, in fact I am drawing attention to the post in question and lobbying Congress for changes in electronic libel law.

As for the lady in your home town who makes handmade lingerie, you might suggest that she gets active on etsy.com, this site is specifically for handmade crafts and clothing.