Search Results and Trust
February 17, 2011
Can a user trust results from a public, ad support search engine?
We’re aware of the kerfuffle: Microsoft’s Bing has been accused of stealing Google’s search results after apparently springing Google’s clever gibberish trap. ComputerWorld’s “Lies, Damned Lies and Search Engines” suggests Bing’s are not the only search results worthy of our suspicion:
“The affair also leads me to ask the general public whether they have ever recognized that the results that search engines supply are inherently prone to bias and incompleteness. The extent to which that is true is something that every Web user should grapple with.”
The article goes on to discuss phenomena like Europe’s “right to be forgotten” push and government censorship around the world. More reasons to take search results with a grain of salt.
We agree. More factors to consider are selectivity, hit boosting, and scope. Also, look to the source sites themselves: hidden editorial policies mean you can’t trust much online, anyway. I always trust everything an advertiser says. Don’t you?
Cynthia Murrell February 11, 2011
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