Most of the stuff discussed in this post didn't bug me, but then I got to this part:
As the Wall Street Journal confirmed in its own study, Google has been significantly altering its search results to highlight Obama-related results, but not Romney-related results (more on that later).
These Obama-related results are being inserted because obama is a magic keyword on Google. A magic keyword is a search that can transform the Google results of later searches.
Incredibly shady. Changing the results of later searches based on things I searched for in the past is the complete opposite of what I want a search engine to do.
Changing the results of later searches based on things I searched for in the past is the complete opposite of what I want a search engine to do.
Really? If I search for Python stuff, I want it to learn that I mean the language and not the animal. I want it to learn that when I type "Socrates", I mean the Greek philosopher and not my ex-Prime Minister.
Learning from the the user is all about changing the results based on past searches, and I think it can be very useful. Just not always.
> A Google spokesman said: "We aim to get users the best
> answers as fast as possible" using techniques such as
> examining "related searches." He said the goal for the
> feature is to provide better results in a situation
> where, for instance, a person who searches for "Harry
> Potter," and then for "Amazon," actually wants "Harry
> Potter" results from Amazon.com Inc. He said that the
> technique saves Google users time and provides better
> answers, but affects only about 0.3% of the searches the
> company conducts.
That's not confirmation, that's a public relations response. Confirmation of limited duration would be actually running the experiment until the effect actually disappears.
As the Wall Street Journal confirmed in its own study, Google has been significantly altering its search results to highlight Obama-related results, but not Romney-related results (more on that later).
These Obama-related results are being inserted because obama is a magic keyword on Google. A magic keyword is a search that can transform the Google results of later searches.
Incredibly shady. Changing the results of later searches based on things I searched for in the past is the complete opposite of what I want a search engine to do.