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posted by mrpg on Saturday December 15 2018, @10:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the echo-chambers-R-us dept.

Measuring the "Filter Bubble": How Google is influencing what you click

Over the years, there has been considerable discussion of Google's "filter bubble" problem. Put simply, it's the manipulation of your search results based on your personal data. In practice this means links are moved up or down or added to your Google search results, necessitating the filtering of other search results altogether. These editorialized results are informed by the personal information Google has on you (like your search, browsing, and purchase history), and puts you in a bubble based on what Google's algorithms think you're most likely to click on.

The filter bubble is particularly pernicious when searching for political topics. That's because undecided and inquisitive voters turn to search engines to conduct basic research on candidates and issues in the critical time when they are forming their opinions on them. If they’re getting information that is swayed to one side because of their personal filter bubbles, then this can have a significant effect on political outcomes in aggregate.

This is a moderately long read, as web pages go. IMO, it's well worth the time.


Original Submission

The code that we wrote to analyze the data is open source and available on our GitHub repository.

https://github.com/duckduckgo/filter-bubble-study

duckduckgo-filter-bubble-study-2018_participants.xls contains the instructions we sent to each participant, as well as basic anonymized data for each participant.

https://duckduckgo.com/download/duckduckgo-filter-bubble-study-2018_participants.xls

duckduckgo-filter-bubble-study-2018_raw-search-results.xls contains a separate sheet for search results per query and per mode (private and non-private). The results are listed as they appeared on the screen for each participant, showing both organic domains and infoboxes such as Top Stories (news), Videos, etc.

https://duckduckgo.com/download/duckduckgo-filter-bubble-study-2018_raw-search-results.xls

 
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @01:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @01:49PM (#774760)

    The woman rushed to the door at lightning speed. They were finally here. The one she was waiting for was here at last! The woman opened the door, revealing a professional-looking man in a suit and tie who wore a kind smile on his face. "Step right in," she said.

    The woman led the man into her living room, where she invited him to take a seat on her couch. Then, they exchanged pleasantries and began talking about her son and his behavior. She told the man about how her son would destroy everything in the house in a fit of rage and would only grow further agitated if she tried to stop him. She told the man about how her son would hit and throw objects at her, and even try to stab her, if she tried to correct his behavior. She told the man about how the several therapists she had taken her son to had been unable to help. The woman, clearly at her wits' end, began crying when recounting these stories.

    The man, ever the professional, simply nodded. This was nothing he hadn't seen before. Indeed, this man was a Child Behavioral Specialist, renowned all over the world for his work. Therefore, when he, Zachson, was called in, it was because all other efforts had failed. The man then calmly directed the woman to bring her son into the room, where he could watch their interactions more closely.

    The woman walked back into the room with her son, and his rebellious demeanor became immediately apparent. He was already hitting her and throwing objects around the room, without even a hint of desire to avoid showing strangers his true self. Upon seeing this, Zachson knew he would have to use his trademark procedure - called 'The Zachson Method' - to correct this child's behavior. The man stood up while the woman was distracted by her son and began walking over to her.

    Suddenly, the woman fell to the ground. Was she having a heart attack, or some sort of seizure? Or, could it possibly have to do with the fact that Zachson had smashed the back of her skull with a heavy mallet? The answer would forever remain a mystery among mysteries. However, what was certain was that she was unlikely to ever get back up, since Zachson brought the mallet down on her skull at full force several more times.

    Zachson grinned and turned to face the child. Yes, now that that disgusting adult woman had been taken care of, he could correct the boy's awful behavior. In fact, the child's rebellious attitude had already vanished as if it had never existed, having been replaced with terror and despair. But, even so, Zachson knew he needed to make sure this change was permanent, and so he began.

    Zachson quickly tore off the boy's clothing, mounted him, and began the violation. Zachson's penis moved in and out of the child's anus rapidly. The boy, who was in such tremendous pain that he couldn't even utter a coherent sentence, simply screamed and cried. Zachson, being the professional that he was, simply smashed his fists into the boy's face without a shred of mercy. In this way, several of the child's teeth broke off in under a minute. That was Zachson's true ferocity.

    Not satisfied with just that, Zachson began again after he had shot his sticky goodies into the child's anus. Indeed, now was not the time to let up; now was the time to strike! Zachson began violating the child even more ferociously, to the point where the boy was constantly screaming in agony. But, The Zachson Method had only just begun!

    The boy's ribs, broken. His fingers, smashed to pieces. His teeth, shattered. His penis and testicles, ripped apart by pliers. His anus, filled with cum. His neck, slashed. Thus came the end of the rebellious boy's motion.

    Zachson looked over to the mother and smiled. Yes, she would be so proud of her son's newfound behavior, at least if she were anything more than a motionless pile of garbage. Then, realizing he had another appointment soon, Zachson issued one last command to the boy and her mother to test their obedience: "Rot." So confident that they would follow his order even without him present, Zachson left the house and never returned.

    The man's confidence had not been misplaced. Over the coming months, the boy and his mother would rot away and leave behind the foulest of odors, demonstrating their absolute obedience to men's rights.

    Thus, The Zachson Method spread all over the world like wildfire. What was left behind was a mountain of rotting - yet obedient - corpses...

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