the role of the search engine
After seeing the news of the various Congress hearings aimed at questioning representatives from the biggest Internet search engines (most notably MSN, Yahoo! and Google) it has left Forenoon Filings pondering about the role that the search engine is taking up.
The amount of information that has become available online has and will continue to grow exponentially, so much so that it is humanly impossible to be able to sift through even a small fraction of it. It is not disputed that the service that search engines provide is becoming more and more valuable.
Commercial companies recognise this – and it is no secret that there are some that go to great lengths to use any means (foul or fair) to ensure that they always top the search rankings.
Although the hearings were mainly aimed at the big three’s dealings in China – it should really prompt us to examine the role of the search engine – they are there to present information based on what a users type in.
But the user queries are fast becoming a valuable commodity. Advertisers chasing that ever appealing connection with the 16-24 age bracket would fight tooth and nail to be able to re-direct search queries and results to their products - often with the aim of falsely ecplising a rival company's product.
Should a search engine intervene in preventing this type of manipulation? It seems like the fair thing to do, but what if the measures or filters put in place wrongly alter good results? Who is then to blame?
Forenoon Filings has not yeat worked out the answer, but the question is there - ready and poised.
The amount of information that has become available online has and will continue to grow exponentially, so much so that it is humanly impossible to be able to sift through even a small fraction of it. It is not disputed that the service that search engines provide is becoming more and more valuable.
Commercial companies recognise this – and it is no secret that there are some that go to great lengths to use any means (foul or fair) to ensure that they always top the search rankings.
Although the hearings were mainly aimed at the big three’s dealings in China – it should really prompt us to examine the role of the search engine – they are there to present information based on what a users type in.
But the user queries are fast becoming a valuable commodity. Advertisers chasing that ever appealing connection with the 16-24 age bracket would fight tooth and nail to be able to re-direct search queries and results to their products - often with the aim of falsely ecplising a rival company's product.
Should a search engine intervene in preventing this type of manipulation? It seems like the fair thing to do, but what if the measures or filters put in place wrongly alter good results? Who is then to blame?
Forenoon Filings has not yeat worked out the answer, but the question is there - ready and poised.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 10:45 am.
