twopointouch

Dr. Sam Vaknin has been monitoring the results given by Google for 154 keywords since 1999. He’s allegedly discovered that changes in the way Google works since April 2006 have produced what he calls ‘unsettling’ results. He says incoming links from the MySpace social network appear valued very highly by Google’s search algorithm. The end result, he feels, is that content favoured by teens receives unwarranted favour from the search engine.

Wikipedia, the “encyclopedia” whose “editors” are mostly unqualified teenagers and young adults is touted by Google as an authoritative source of information. In search results, it is placed well ahead of sources of veritable information such as universities, government institutions, the home pages of recognized experts, the online full-text content of peer-reviewed professional and scholarly publications, real encyclopedias (such as the Encarta), and so on.

MySpace whose 110 million users are predominantly prepubescent and adolescents now dictates what Websites will occupy the first search results in Google’s search results. It is very easy to spam MySpace. It is considered by some experts to be a vast storehouse of link farms masquerading as “social networks”.

Google has vested, though unofficial and unannounced and, therefore, undisclosed interests in both Wikipedia and MySpace. Wikipedia visitors end up on various properties whose search technology is Google’s and Wikipedia would have shriveled into insignificance had it not been to Google’s relentless promotion of its content.

I’m not totally convinced by all of this. Though I do see the main point. I just don’t think it’s an issue.

(a) I’m not sure what Google’s vested interest is supposed to be in Wikipedia. I haven’t ever heard it mentioned before. However, we’ve all probably noticed that a Wikipedia link tends to be the first or second result on Google searches. I took that to indicate that people were linking to Wikipedia a lot, because it’s an easy way to gloss unfamiliar terms. The average net user probably doesn’t bother with academic publications and real [sic] encyclopaedias.

(b) I don’t know who these ‘experts’ are that say MySpace is a link-farm. I hadn’t noticed that.

(c) The age of MySpacers is in dispute, despite what Dr Vaknin says. Also, Google’s interest in MySpace is very much disclosed.

(d) No numerical evidence about the MySpace link is presented at all. No evidence for the claims about Wikipedians being teenage.

Ultimately, this piece smacks me as a bit paranoid. Young people use the web a lot and create a lot of content. Google works by measuring value through in-bound links. Of course young people are going to end up influencing search results.

P.S. There seems to be some sort of ongoing feud between Vaknin and Wikipedia. See here and here.

(via. Micropersuasion)