‘Don’t Be Evil,’’ the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, proclaimed in their 2004 ‘‘Owner’s Manual’’ for prospective investors in the company. Despite widespread cynicism, criticism, and even mockery, the company has never backed down on this core premise, reiterating in its most recent list of the ‘‘things we know to be true’’ that ‘‘You can make money without doing evil.’’

Yet the company has been dogged for years by widespread allegations that it violates its own pledge by manipulating the search results that remain the core of the company and primary source of its enormous profits.