It seems like media spin more than PR BS. The EDF should be the company being recognised as they appear to be accountable for the program and the article quotes the EDF directly.

I expect google probably is better click bait.

That depends, are you using the Native app?

Can you share some examples of what sites with actual content get ignored by google?

Google search may be deeply flawed and declining in quality but I would be surprised if it actually deprioritised quality websites. And I don’t see why a quality website wouldn’t keep a viewer on site as long as a poor quality website.

What makes you think it’s some form of nefarious strategy and not simply lazy journalism?

The US is a country. Europe isn’t.