Google changed the way we find facts. With 64% of search market share, its search algorithm decides what can we see on the internet.
Don’t get me wrong, I like google search, well, most of the times. But at other times, I get frustrated by receiving again only the results that match my “liking” – the pages similar to those I have clicked and read in the past.
I fully understand the challenge any search engine faces: how to pick the most helpful source from the gazillion of the sites? But I am also concerned that somebody else decides on my behalf what I can see, thus keeping me inside the bubble I am not aware of. The same concern applies to the most of the social networks.
Well, there are other search engines (like duckduckgo.com, for example) that do not track you, so they present results of their algorithm only, without taking into account your search history. But even then the decisions are made by the search algorithm without my control.
Why cannot a search engine expose some parameters of the algorithm and let me tune how much different result (relative to the current return, for example) I would like to get? I do not find anything like this on the settings page of google.com site.
If I enter “news trump” in the google search box, the first result comes from www.bbc.com. But if I submit the same words into duckduckgo.com I get the first result from trump.news. That is a big contrasting difference. How can I get something in between?
Getting back data that confirm your opinion makes you feel good. I wonder if my complaining is caused by the fact that I have not found the position between two extremes that matches my opinion. If so, how have I built my opinion in the first place? Have I been already setup by some nefarious manipulation?
If you were able to take at least some control over the search algorithm, please let me know. I love to pop the bubble of my own biases once in a while.
Will we ever be able to rid off the tyranny of search algorithms? The question is still open, although I am afraid that the answer is No.
Unexpected consequences…
– What happens if a person loses one ear?
– He will hear worse.
– And if he loses the second ear?
– He will see worse.
– Why?
– The hat will cover his eyes.
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