That would be brutal and probably antitrust-y...better to implement some algorithm change for product search that weighs in counterfeit risk.

Search for "lightning cable" shows multiple Amazon listings on the first page, similar for batteries and other items that are routinely counterfeited. Google isn't doing the user a favor by routing them to suspect merchandise.

That would be cutting the nose to spite the face.

I assume he was talking about non-paid search results in which case: how so?

It's no like you're going to change your search engine to Bing because Google stopped showing organic search results for Amazon.

I just searched for e.g. "Acer Predator Helios 300" and Amazon is second non-paid result.

I would imagine that's the case for a lot of searches and not being in search results would hurt them a lot.

And to be clear: I think it should be illegal for Google to selectively and anti-competitively tweak search results just as it should be illegal for Amazon to selectively and anti-competitively refuse to sell products.