Subtleties in Searching
Different search engines return similar, but also often different search results. Exploring the difference between organic and paid search returns provides valuable insights as to what the search engine is assuming our intent is for performing the search.
*Screenshots of query results provided below for ease of comparison.
We examine the results returned from Google and DuckDuckGo by performing the same query on both browsers — “Italian cooking,” “classic Italian cooking,” and “Italian cooking NYC.” Google focuses on returning results based on personalization. On the other hand, DuckDuckGo’s main selling point is privacy and not personalization — returning results based on your data. That data could include your contacts, personal preferences, search history, location, etc.
For Google’s search engine to work optimally, the search engine has improved significantly to understand the intent, context, and setting of the query the users make. Then it returns the most relevant results that best match the users’ needs. Comparing the search results from Google based on the three queries mentioned above,
- “Italian cooking” returned a large amount of Youtube videos on the results page, as well as online Italian cuisine recipes. Still, no sight of paid advertisements yet.
- “classic Italian cooking” returned mostly recipe book results and finally a sponsored section featuring Italian recipe books above all other results. The first result below the sponsored section is from Amazon, trying to sell a recipe book titled “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.”
- “Italian cooking NYC” returned mostly Italian cooking classes for me located in NYC with a few numbers of Italian restaurants.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo prides itself as a search engine that respects your privacy and does not track your preferences or history. It provides the same search results based on the query made for all users.
- “Italian cooking” returned results that are almost all recipes and a banner that links to Wikipedia about Italian cuisine. We did notice the special treatment Yummly received from DuckDuckGo occupying a large portion of the search results, but it isn’t labeled as an advertisement.
- “Classic Italian cooking” still returning mostly recipes, and then the fourth result was the same result from Google of Amazon selling the recipe book.
- “Italian Cooking NYC” showed me the first ad placement on top of the results page from Seamless Food Delivery. The rest of the results are from websites that have review functions listing Italian restaurants, like Yelp.
OK, Why Are We Comparing?
According to the PageRank algorithm changed by Google in 2018 regarding mobile accessibility (How Google Search Works, n.d.) — the change mainly affected websites that don’t have the resources to update their web pages. Web pages on the results page of Google’s search engine would fall lower in the results due to their website not rendering optimally on mobile devices.
The main point here is — search engines are powerful and can manipulate query results.
We saw Amazon showing up on the same query on both search engines, but Amazon was higher on the results page for Google. With that in mind, we can confirm the question if different search engines show different results even with the same query(the answer is yes). Google has its own best interest in mind in this case when it comes to results by revealing a large amount of Youtube videos showcasing Italian cooking. In return for showing ads on Youtube videos to its search engine users to generate revenue.
Conclusion
Sometimes data monitoring and tracking are not all wrong according to this Nature article, in which scientists methodically analyze search data from Google to detect influenza epidemics (Ginsberg et al., 2009). It could help authorities make informed decisions when it comes to health concerns. However, it raises concerns about objectivity, consents, and privacy (Tavani, Fall 2016 Edition).
Many users know they are trading their personal information for services provided by a powerful search engine like Google, but they are not aware of what data is being collected, and the purpose of said collection.
Users could easily be found on the Web by other users just by typing their name in the search bar. Many people are unsuspecting of their information being readily searchable, and it takes them by surprise how much of their data is available to the public.
The filter bubble topic deserves a whole new article by itself…
Google can assume your preference on anything based on your previous search activities, and list results based on that assumption. It could create a “filter bubble” with political views or any content that can affect or strengthen a person’s mind. Personalization is up to the users to answer the question if they are okay with search engines making assumptions about their profile, and also how much privacy they are willing to give up in return for personalized services.
References
Ginsberg, J., Mohebbi, M. H., Patel, R. S., Brammer, L., Smolinski, M. S., & Brilliant, L. (2009, February 19). Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data. Retrieved from Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07634
How Google Search Works. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2019, from Google: https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/
Tavani, H. (Fall 2016 Edition). Search Engines and Ethics. Retrieved from Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-search/#SearEngiBiasProbOpac
