Grousing about the Google: Grouse, Grouse
November 23, 2018
Some people cannot accept the reality of Alphabet Google. If you had the pleasure of Psychology 101, you know about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. (A refresher is here.) Google is an entity focused on “self actualization.” For a company run by wizards that translates to doing what generates maximum benefits for the Alphabeteers and Googlers. Example? Money, power, freedom to do whatever seems cool to former high school science club members.
Foundem, a company which found itself on the outside of Google search results, has been a thorn in the online ad giant’s muscular thigh for years.(For some background, click this link.) Foundem is involve in searchneutrality.org, a Web site which makes available information about certain actions of Alphabet Google which allegedly are not fair.
As a reminder, acting in one’s self interest is probably at odds with some thinkers’ definitions of “fair.” The concept of search neutrality is of little interest to some people in the information retrieval game. Example: people engaged in search engine optimization, a Google ad sales professionals clawing for a bonus, and marketers who explain that the Pixel 3 is “new” and “improved” despite some Pixel owners’ complaints.
Seachneutrality.org made public a letter sent to the EU’s top enforcement official, Margrethe Vestager. The contents of the letter are easy to summarize:
Google is discriminating against companies with which it competes.
The notion of search neutrality is quaint. You can look at the Wikipedia explanation of the concept, which is different from my understanding of the bound phrase. Objectivity, precision, recall, and freedom from bias are outmoded concepts when it comes to ad supported Web search.
Google wants clicks and sales. Maslow’s hierarchy suggests that the iPhone is going to come up short in queries for mobile devices. Remember the Pixel? In companies with logical employees, taking steps to make sure that their employer comes out number one makes sense. That’s why Alphabet Google logic is difficult for some to accept. Example: Foundem, the EU, and Ms. Vestager.
The notion of objectivity in search results bit the dust when “pay to play” replaced the hopelessly ineffective editorial controls in place at commercial database publishers in the 1980s. The elimination of precision and recall in favor of hit boosting made more sense. Goodness. I rolled right over when VP Cheney wanted his Web site to appear when queries for the White House were sent to the US government’s search system in the 2000s.
There are some hold outs for objectivity. Example: The Lexis search system. But even in that commercial service some content does not appear for various reasons. Therefore, the results are incomplete or incorrect because errors in stories are not inserted into the online content. I suppose, if I were not understanding, I would suggest that commercial online information is both incomplete and inaccurate. Business Dateline, a product on which I worked decades ago, included corrections, but we selected the stories to go into the database. That meant that Business Dateline was accurate and incomplete.
You can see where I am headed.
Online is not and never will be free from distortions. These can be algorithmic because Boolean is irrelevant to many today. These can be editorial like the construction of the online indexes and full text files themselves. These can be willful like Amazon’s slamming in its house brands and crazy suggestions for products which will be shipped for an eye popping fee.
Now open letters are cathartic. The letter may result in another fine against a US based company focused on money, power, etc. But let’s be clear. Facebook does not want to pay a fine for its Cambridge Analytica adventure. Apple may reluctantly cough up some taxes in Ireland. Google might write a check and move on.
But the impact is negligible.
The reason is the beaver analogy. What happens if I take six beavers and put them in the little used restaurant at the top of the Chrysler Building in Manhattan? The beavers immediately begin to build a dam. Beavers do what beavers do.
Net net: American technology giants do what American technology giants do. These outfits will make decisions that sever their need for self actualization. In my lingo, self actualization is the money power thing.
What organization has the muscle to put Alphabet Google in a box and keep it there?
In my view, it will not be a government official. Whom do you nominate as the keeper of Googzilla? When you have “foundem”, let me know.
Stephen E Arnold, November 23, 2018
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
