Days after the Trump administration instituted a controversial travel ban in January 2017, Google employees discussed ways they might be able to tweak the company's search-related functions to show users how to contribute to pro-immigration organizations and contact lawmakers and government agencies, according to internal company emails.
The email traffic, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, shows that employees proposed ways to "leverage" search functions and take steps to counter what they considered to be "islamophobic, algorithmically biased results from search terms 'Islam', 'Muslim', 'Iran', etc." and "prejudiced, algorithmically biased search results from search terms 'Mexico', 'Hispanic', 'Latino', etc."
The email chain, while sprinkled with cautionary notes about engaging in political activity, suggests employees considered ways to harness the company's vast influence on the internet in response to the travel ban. Google said none of the ideas discussed were implemented.
"These emails were just a brainstorm of ideas, none of which were ever implemented," a company spokeswoman said in a statement. "Google has never manipulated its search results or modified any of its products to promote a particular political ideology—not in the current campaign season, not during the 2016 election, and not in the aftermath of President Trump's executive order on immigration. Our processes and policies would not have allowed for any manipulation of search results to promote political ideologies."
wsj.com/articles/google-workers-discussed-tweaking-search-function-to-counter-travel-ban-1537488472
(Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday September 25 2018, @07:51PM (5 children)
I remember SEO scammer manipulators that would game Google's search algorithm. Google would tweak their algorithm to not be manipulated and send all SEO pages to the bottom where they belong. So "Search King" sued. Google argued, and court agreed that search results are Google's opinion about what Google's users want in response to any particular query. That opinion might also include that the SEO pages do not belong at the top. Google has a 1st amendment right to express this opinion through its search results.
(NOTE: my negative opinion of the term SEO was formed by events similar to the above.)
Now suppose Google believes users want search results that don't promote racismm, bigotry, sexism, mysogeny, homophobia, treason or nazis.
Is it political manipulation of the search results, or just good business on Google's part to exercise its right to give users what Google believes they want.
The great thing about the intarweb tubes is that if you don't like Google's results, you can try to find, or even create your own search engine more to your liking. If other people share your view, then your search engine would get more traffic. See Conservapedia which has facts more to some people's liking.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:00PM (3 children)
like providing a Site Description that is 160 characters or less so it's not truncated in the search results. That enables searches to more-effectively decide whether to visit the page.
Using simple natural language words in URL pathnames like "../jam/strawberry.html" that are directly related to the content.
Keyword stuffing hasn't worked in years.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday September 26 2018, @12:54PM (2 children)
> There really is a good kind of SEO
IMO, no.
They need to come up with a word that is not forever tainted.
SEO stinks to high heaven of scam, deceit, gaming the system, and manipulation in order to perpetrate "dodgy" web sites.
SEO is not the same thing as a best practice to make a site more transparent so that search engines can better classify it, and who would be interested in it.
Just my opinion. But I'm not alone in that view. When I read about sites that want to practice SEO, I cringe, and might even stop reading if I haven't yet formed the opinion that the site in question is respectable and simply doesn't know how tainted SEO is.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 26 2018, @02:48PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday September 26 2018, @06:22PM
It's like a stance that there is no good SPAM.
The word is entirely tarnished.
Is it possible to legitimately use email in business? I think so.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday September 25 2018, @09:03PM
-"
That's why I created Soggy Jobs: craigslist and the like our filled with stuff like "Our client is seeking a rockstar" without identifying the actual client. That means the only way to determine whether you'd want to work there is to actually apply. By linking directly to each company's own job posts my user can limit their applications to only those companies they've already checked out.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]