When you search for something vaccine-related on google, they will change the results to make sure you’re seeing what Google thinks you should see. The same is true with other subjects. They “curate” the results.
You may think that’s a good thing if you agree with the way they’re twisting the results. If so, that’s a very short-sighted perspective. What will you say when they curate the results in a way you don’t like?
Since the internet has become the main source of information for most people, don’t we want free and open access to it?
If Google were some little company, with 5 percent of the market, what they’re doing might be okay — so long as there were other alternatives that didn’t massage your search results. I.e., so long as there was real competition.
But Google is a monopoly, or as close to a monopoly as doesn’t matter, and it’s deciding what information people can get. That has to end. It’s absurdly obvious that has to end. But our Senators and Congressmen are cowards, or have been bought off, and they won’t do anything.
LOL. I don’t agree with the way Google does their business either, but no one else has put a compelling search engine together. I’ve tried to use Bing. I go back to Google. As a software developer developing for the Windows platform, search results for help on Windows programming is better on Google than on Bing.–and Windows and Bing are both Microsoft. It’s a shame that Microsoft can’t even compete with Google for information that is on their own websites.
I’ll give another example… programmers everywhere use StackOverflow.com to find programming answers. If I search Google,I get better answers for topics on StackOverflow than if I use StackOverflow’s built in search engine.
Google just dominates Bing, Yahoo (do they have their own engine anymore?), DuckDuckGo, etc.
But, your sentiments seem like the typical “conservative’s”: free enterprise, capitalism, free speech is great…unless I don’t like what they do with it. I don’t like the search results. WHaaaaaaaahhhhhh…
Is there any barrier for you to create your own search engine? Are you blocked from buying servers hosted on AWS, Azure, or GCP? Is Google preventing you from writing a search engine? I bet if you wanted to write one, their website search results would be the most helpful for figuring out how to do it.
How do you make Google not a practical monopoly on search? Say, “hey Google, you can only search for Sports”? Or whatever topics you approve for Google? Sounds a lot like USSR, China, PRK… but in the name of “freedom” of course.
Yes, Google offers a great service. And Mussolini made the trains run on time.
Your silly comments caricaturing conservatism, and your “build your own” idea, are not even worth replying to.
Ok, whatever… my caricature of conservatism seems pretty accurate if history is any clue…
The conservative position is that dictators are bad and that our government should do what we can to bring down dictators. Been the US policy since post WW2. That’s the public face. The private face… Oh, Pinochet is our friend. The Shah is our friend. Saddam is our friend (until he’s not). South Africa is our friend. How much money was spent on propping up dictators? How many death squads financed in Central and South America? Hell, Viet Nam could probably have been prevented if we would have supported the people over the awful regimes that got overthrown. But, we decided to support the awful regime there. Probably could have prevented them from going communist. But, the communists were the only ones willing to help the common man there…and arguably made it worse. Probably same in Cuba.
Cancel culture is bad unless it’s our cancel culture. Then it’s ok.
QUOTE: …like the typical “conservative’s”: free enterprise, capitalism, free speech is great…unless I don’t like what they do with it. I don’t like the search results. WHaaaaaaaahhhhhh…
Well said and touché! But typically the response to pointing out this inconsistency is denial, rationalization, pouting or projection. That’s how the ever famous Trump Derangement Syndrome was born. Trump violated many conservative sacred cows and they accepted it hook, line and sinker. When called on their hypocrisy, suddenly a new syndrome is rampant….one that only infects non-conservatives.
So, under Republican leadership the Covid vaccine was lauded. Under Democrat leadership, not so much. Sports figures that don’t espouse conservative views should just “shut-up and dribble”. Yet, sport figures that do should be able to speak freely because it’s their “right” as an American. It’s wrong for the liberal media to inspire their audience to dox and harass. But, when one of conservative media’s darlings does the same, it’s considered fair play and defending themselves. The list goes on and on and on.
Of course, this behavior isn’t isolated conservatives. It’s just that conservatives tend to be self-righteous, defensive and whiny when called on it…instead of admitting that they indeed want to have their cake and eat it too.
Maybe a government takeover of web search will be better? That would be honoring conservative principles…
Wait…is the conservation position to eschew government intervention in private industry or to encourage it? Sometimes it hard to tell. I suppose it all depends on who’s ox is being gored.
CORRECTION: Wait…is the conservative position to eschew government intervention in private industry or to encourage it? Sometimes it hard to tell. I suppose it depends on whose ox is being gored.
Ok, I can on too strong and mouthy/condescending. That’s on me.
But, I just think the idea is BS that you’re somehow going to make Google not the monopoly it is with regarding web search. Someone builds a better search engine, we will use it. I remember when Yahoo and AltaVista were state of the art. There were probably 20 search engines back in the day. Lycos? Google just did a better job and out competed all of the rest.
How are you supposed to make people stop using Google? Shut it down because you don’t like the results?
If you want to say Google can’t do email or Android or xyz and search because some kind of monopoly… so be it. But, how is that going to make them give the search results you want?
I tried to use Bing a few years ago because I didn’t like the way Google was tracking everything. I gave up because of inferior search results.
You might say, OK, Google can’t make itself the default search engine on Android or Chrome. Maybe. I don’t think it will make a difference. People will switch back to them. Hell, we don’t “search” for things on the web… we “google” for them.
I don’t actually object to Google being a monopoly. Monopolies are not always bad things, and Google does offer a great service.
My objection is to the fact that they can influence the flow of information the way they want to, with no accountability. That is wrong and has to stop.