Posted on 12/14/2008 6:11:18 AM PST by slnk_rules
Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.
Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer lives on at Google News, where we are assured that: The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program.
A few years ago, Google's apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited, and technology utopians began to herald Google as the conduit for a new form of democracy. Google was only too pleased to encourage this view. It explained that its algorithm "relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. "
That Google was impartial was one of the articles of faith. For if Google was ever to be found to be applying subjective human judgment directly on the process, it would be akin to the voting machines being rigged.
For these soothsayers of the Hive Mind, the years ahead looked prosperous. As blog-aware marketing and media consultants, they saw a lucrative future in explaining the New Emergent World Order to the uninitiated. (That part has come true - Web 2.0 "gurus" now advise large media companies).
It wasn't surprising, then, that when five years ago I described how a small, self-selected number of people could rig Google's search results, the reaction from the people doing the rigging was violently antagonistic. Who lifted that rock? they cried.
But what was once Googlewashing by a select few now has Google's active participation.
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Does Dogpile work with Mozilla?
Hi, can You please state where You got this information that Google is now basically handpicking which websites/stories & news it will display in the Google search results & news results?
I believe it's pretty well stated in the article at the top of this page and the link that takes you there:
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Yeah, there are some who think google is the greatest thing ever, and at one time I might have agreed. Unfortunately, FR is becoming a bit too PC also. FR has gone from a bunch of angry anarchists to a bunch of mainstream republicans. I quoted a bible verse last week, and it got pulled. Granted it was in bad taste, but it was a full verse straight out of the king james.
If you can access it, it should work with any browser.
Lots of luck. My advice is to disconnect your computer.
I can’t suggest their toolbar, which can be flagged as “adware,” but I just tried Alexa.com for the first time in ages and found it did better than Google or the others listed in this thread.
Alexa.com can be used without using its toolbar. Give it a try and tell me what you think. I am pretty amazed, and it gives a preview of the page they link to.
Well its a matter of degrees of contact and level of contamination.As an Independent Conservative who has felt forced to vote Republican for years,the concept of the lesser of two evils comes to mind.
Google cranks up the Consensus Engine
The Register | 12/12/2008
Posted on 12/14/2008 4:48:12 AM PST by autumnraine
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2148523/posts
I use Clusty. It’s excellent!
I was curious, and figured I'd let you know the results.
behing= behind. Sheesh!
this comes as no surprise. I’ve seen things that are incriminating to Dems “disappear” more than once.
BTTT
Dogpile works with Firefox 3.0 on Ubuntu Hardy Heron on my laptop.
Thanks for checking!
Does that mean that Shifty Paulson will be negotiating to loan give them a pot of our money too?
I was curious, I have used Dogpile with pretty good success for about a decade, and seem to get relevant results fairly quickly. I just wanted to see how they stacked up. (I never Google).
I just had another horrible thought. I contacted a toy company for a recall and they asked me where I heard about the recall. I didn’t think much about it and gave them the name of the site that posted their company contact info (nothing on the box of the toy) but now I wonder why they wanted it.
Is it possible for companies to pay Google to block sites that lead people to the recalls? They could probably save a boatload of cash. Once they start tampering, where does it end?
Tried it.
Slow.
Layout is VERY non-intuitive.
I just tried one of the others recommended in a previous post, Clusty.com and like the layout. I certainly worry about mistyping THAT url and what kind of fun would ensue.
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