How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet
How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet
Testimony during Google’s antitrust case revealed that the company may be altering billions of queries a day to generate results that will get you to buy more stuff.
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I've said (and read) it before: the concept of a great search engine is exactly at odds with advertising. A good search engine gives accurate results fast, while the purpose of advertising is to show users what advertisers pay to show them. In other words, it's the difference between showing users what they want to see, versus showing users what advertisers want them to see.
Google knows that the more irrelevant results it returns, the longer you spend looking, which translates into more opportunities to show ads.
I've just done the same search as in the article on Chrome, Firefox and DuckDuckGo
Google served 5 ads before showing me M&S' website
DDG showed me an ad for Temu then M&S' website
Firefox showed me no ad, thanks ublock, and straight to M&S' website
Firefox isn't a search engine, though?
Good point
What search engine were you using on FF?
Google but with ublock and ghostery
UblockOrigin recommends against using ghostery.
I like ghostery's handling of cookie banners though...
Edit. Oh, the easy list thing does that anyway. Thanks
Edit 2. Ghostery is better at cookie popups
Google knows that the more irrelevant results it returns, the longer you spend looking, which translates into more opportunities to show ads.
Which is ironic, as Google only managed to get as far as they did by doing the exact opposite in an era where Alta Vista and the small handful of other OG search engines were focused on maximizing revenue via ads.
Google has become that which they sought to destroy.
If its free you are the product.
And if you pay for it, you’re still the product…. Because it’s 2023 and fuck the consumers.