Archive for the 'Search Engine Bias' Category
Google: “Did You Mean: ‘He Invented’?”
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007Philipp Lenssen points out that when you search Google for “she invented,” on the results page you are asked “Did you mean ‘he invented’?”
There has been lots of discussion on this seemingly misogynistic “correction” that Google provides, and those familiar with my research know that I’m a proponent of critiquing algorithm and system design for […]
Google to Rank Results Based on Domain Name Information?
Tuesday, May 9th, 2006Search Engine Watch speculates that Google might start using WHOIS information in their ranking of web pages. A recent patent application filed by Google, Information retrieval based on historical data, hints at the possible use of domain information in the ranking of results:
Domain registration could be used as a way to determine the “document inception […]
Google Won’t Let AOL Game PageRank
Sunday, March 19th, 2006When the deal between Google and AOL was first announced, I (among others) complained that Google was introducing bias into their search engine results by teaching AOL how to “game” the system in order to optimize the placement of AOL sites within Google’s search results.
Now, according to John Battelle, it seems that this part of […]
Thoughts on “growing anti-Google sentiment and what is fueling it”
Monday, February 20th, 2006I recently received a request from a journalism graduate student to comment on a story about “growing anti-Google sentiment and what is fueling it” and about “how Google’s principles have changed, and how the public is reacting to this switch.” Here are my brief answers to the questions posed:
“Do you have a sense that the […]
Protect Your Regime with iRepress
Saturday, February 18th, 2006Mark Fiore’s latest cartoon satirizes the activities of US search engine companies contributing to the Great Firewall of China: “Protect Your Regime with iRepress - with Powerful Democracy Filtering!”
Google No Longer Claims Completely Organic Results
Thursday, February 16th, 2006Last month, Google changed their censorship policy after launching their censored Google.cn service in China. Now it seems Google has changed its “core principles” regarding providing only organic search results.
Previously Google’s Principles included this statement:
The order and contents of Google search results are completely automated. No one hand picks a particular result for a given […]
Web Search: Multi-
disciplinary Perspectives