In an attempt to put the internet
directly in the hands of the users, and to give people the content that is most
relevant to them, Google has been adding more “personalized” content to search
results. If you’re looking for a restaurant, a review by one of your
friends will appear at the top. If you’re interested in reading more
about candidates for the upcoming presidential election, an analytic post by
someone you follow on Google+ will be the first hit. However, this is not
catching on in the way Google hoped it would. Users of the search engine
are responding that they would actually prefer their results to be
unbiased. Furthermore, in some cases, reviews from social network sites
convey inaccurate information about the products.
Last month, Google began including
search results from Google+ to users who were logged in. This was met by
an immediate outcry, and Google quickly responded by adding a set of buttons on
the search results page that allowed users to toggle between including and excluding
personal results without having to go through the hassle of navigating the settings
menu. Despite this, most users in a recent survey indicated that they
were not enthusiastic about viewing posts by people in their Google+ networks
when they performed a search. Only 15.5% of responders indicated they
liked the idea of personal search results. Another 39.1% said they were
okay with the idea but had some privacy concerns, and 45.4% felt strongly about
having all users receive the same results when they type in a given search
query. When asked if they would use Google+ for the purpose of receiving
personalized search results, just 7% responded favorably.
As results from social networking and
review sites make their way to the top of search results pages more often, a
question that remains is whether these sites actually provide the best and most
accurate content. A recent study showed that in some cases, they do
not. A popular social networking site called Untapped allows users to log
the beers that they drink and write reviews. They can then opt to share
the information on other social network sites like Twitter and Facebook.
A recent comparison revealed a disparity between the quantity and quality of beers
that users log in and the ones that they share. People are more likely to
share beers that are new and different. Other factors could prevent them
from sharing information about beer, including drinking frequently or early in
the day. Since their profile on this site is connected to those of their
real-life friends, there could be a tendency to underreport any drinking that
might be considered socially unacceptable. Even if they have a favorite
beer, they might not log it every time they drink it, which would result in
their history not being the most inaccurate. As a result, trends deduced from
the data on these websites would not portray actual behavior. If such
information were used as a search result for a relevant query, the user would
be presented with flawed information.
There are times when people find it fun
and useful to see information from their friends presented in search results.
However, most of the time, well-respected and reputable websites will contain the information
they are looking for. These recent reports indicate that not only are
social network-related results inaccurate, most searchers are not interested
anyway. In the case of Google incorporating social media results, users
were quick to register their displeasure, and Google responded promptly with an adjustment to improve
the user’s experience. This experience
illustrated how public opinion can shape the direction of the internet
and social media.
Sources:
Google Users Will Get
More Personalized Results in Searches
Google Users Dislike
Personalized Search Results [Survey]
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2145297/Google-Users-Dislike-Personalized-Search-Results-Survey
How Social Sharing
Changes What You Drink
App Reveals Reluctance
to Admit You Are What You Drink
No comments:
Post a Comment