DuckDuckGo CEO Claims Google Provides Results By Location

[angelatc]

https://www.businessinsider.com/duckduckgo-ceo-on-google-search-bias-2018-12

The CEO of privacy search engine DuckDuckGo says Google uses location data that puts entire ZIP codes in politically biased 'filter bubbles'




DuckDuckGo — a privacy-focused search engine company that competes with Google Search— released a study last week that claims Google is inadvertently introducing bias into its results.

"Google's collection and use of personal data, including location, which is then used to filter specific search results, is having an effect akin to the effects of a political bias," DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg told Business Insider on Tuesday.

The company's study found participants saw vast differences in search results when searching for the same keywords (like "gun control" or "immigration") from different locations across the country.

A Google spokesperson said, in part: "This study's methodology and conclusions are flawed."




Weinberg said he anticipated Google's rebuttal and that is why he and his team controlled for both time and location in their research. Also, he argues the findings were far from trivial.

[Grandmastersexsay]

Google is probably prioritizing local news results that have a regional bias. I'm not a fan of google, but this sounds to be on the bottom of the spectrum for being nefarious when compared to the other stuff they pull.

[devil21]

It doesn't seem like much of anything about Google's search results are organic, political or otherwise. Results are tailored to the individual user to create something of a confirmation bias bubble.

[dannno]

This is a great feature for small businesses who only do business in certain areas, but it's a horrible feature for a leftist organization like google to use for political purposes.

Sounds like it could be some type of campaign finance violation.

[oyarde]

Just as I expected .

[angelatc]

It doesn't seem like much of anything about Google's search results are organic, political or otherwise. Results are tailored to the individual user to create something of a confirmation bias bubble.

If you read the article, that's sort of the point they made. They cited searching NRA as an example. If you are doing that search from California you get much different result than you do in the Midwest. This inadvertently creates a bubble, where people are not exposed to anything new or different views.


Essentially, Weinberg is saying that even if Google does not create its products with the intent of having a political bias, the fact that location information is used to filter results creates its own form of bias.

"If you live in this ZIP code, we're going to show you the NRA. But if you live in this other ZIP code, we're not going to show you the NRA," Weinberg says could explain the results his team discovered. "If that's what [Google's] doing, then you're putting a whole ZIP code (or whatever the location boundaries) in a filter bubble."

[jkr]

yeah...so?

#waddayagunnaDOabootit?

[TheCount]

Sounds like good business. Most stores do the same thing.

[r3volution 3.0]

I don't understand how this is news...

Did people think it was a coincidence that, when they googled "shoe store," google served up a shoe store near them?