Google Manipulates Search Results?

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Why in the world would Google manipulate search results? What could they possibly gain from that? Besides, that would be contrary to the company's "don't be evil" mantra. :D

They claim, essentially, that Google manipulates local search results to favor Google products: meaning that, whenever you search a restaurant, doctor or local business, Google will show you results from its empire of sites … even if there are demonstrably better options out there.
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That doesn't make them evil. That just makes them results from a for-profit organization. If the authors thought Google did all this work with no expectation of extra benefits to themselves, they're delusional, and worse, think all their readers are equally delusional as well.
 
OEM said:
Oh my god! Say it ain't so!
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Really....



I'm all for fair and stuff, etc, etc, etc, but if a company manages to make themselves damn near omnipotent at a given thing, they didn't do it so they could NOT take advantage of it, and within reason I think they should. It's a fine line yes and I'm glad I don't have to sort it out but I just can't bring myself to blame them, or anyone in a position like them, for using it from time to time. It's just like MS bundling IE in windows years ago, of COURSE they did lol....
 
Their search results vary all the time from week to week. When I search for "voice" and I'm logged into my Google account what are the chances that I'm looking for NBC's "The Voice"? Yet when The Voice is on TV with it's newest season of wannabe's and soon to be rejects it's at the top of the search results with what I'm actually looking for (Google Voice) below it.
 
Their shopping search results went south years ago.
 
So, I go to bestbuy.com, newegg.com, walmart.com, menards.com, homedepot.com... they all seem to manipulate their data to display items available within their store.

OMG... why can't they compare other products and prices from other stores on these websites too! It's a conspiracy.
 
Of course Google has to manipulate Internet searches. They have to make money, but also the search results need to be useful. A completely unmanipulated Internet search would, in most cases, be completely useless.

Just one example: "dark jedi attack". What am I searching for? I'm not a Star Wars fan; I'm looking for info about the OS X bootkit. For the first day or two after news broke about that on some obscure anti-virus webpages, it was impossible to do an internet search for it, because 11 billion Star Wars fansites got in the way, and I don't think it was even being called a bootkit yet. Today, Google knows what I'm searching for and most of the first page is about the bootkit, at least when I'm searching for it.

And that's not even getting into what the SEO industry does to the data you're trying to get information from. You're just choosing which manipulation is more useful to you; no manipulation is not even a choice.
 
Help your friends and family take back their privacy. Use duckduckgo search engine, stay away from google.com :D
 
I know this may be an isolated incident but when I tried twice to search for a local hospital, I kept getting hits for a hospital at the other end of the city. Only when I looked at a physical map did I know where I wanted to go. I could have missed my appointment on that information.
 
Odnocer said:
Help your friends and family take back their privacy. Use duckduckgo search engine, stay away from google.com :D
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Odnocer said:
The search engine that doesn't track you... duckduckgo ;)
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Until enough people use their search engine that it becomes profitable enough to track and sell that info.

Your savior will only save you until they can make money off of you.
 
The problem is the general public is too ignorant (often willfully) to realize their search results could be tainted. They probably believe some abstract algorithm are in play.

And you have journalists like gamer journalists who see their existence as a product of Google and not their readers and/or Google search users so they won't say much about it because they don't want to rock the boat.
 
OEM said:
Until enough people use their search engine that it becomes profitable enough to track and sell that info.

Your savior will only save you until they can make money off of you.
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I use it occasionally, but worry they might go the way of google as well.

Of course they manipulate search results! They get paid/favors for doing so. There was an interesting article on the 2012 election, when searching for Obama it would populate like 200 results favoring his run, if you searched for any repub candidates it would drop a few and mostly negative news. Why do you think they are in the WH more than any other company, at least once a week a lobbyist get's time...it's a shell game. So frustrating but what are you going to do about it? Use DuckDuckGo I guess.
 
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