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How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet - WIRED (www.wired.com)

submitted 9 months ago by ijeff@lemdro.id to c/technology@beehaw.org

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Google may be altering billions of search queries daily to generate results that increase purchases.

Testimony in an antitrust case revealed an internal Google slide about changes to its search algorithm, involving "semantic matching" to generate more commercial results.

Google covertly changes user queries, substituting them with ones that generate more revenue for the company and display shopping-oriented results.

This manipulation benefits Google's profits but harms search quality and raises advertiser costs.

Despite legal challenges, Google's market dominance allows it to continue these practices, impacting users' ability to access unbiased information.

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[-] blindsight@beehaw.org 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Advertisers lose because they're only paying to try to snipe each other's customers when directly searching for brand names. They could pay to advertise on the more generic search phrases, but it's more likely to convert a user into a sale if they're ready to buy something and googling a competitor's company name to go to their website.

For users just looking for general information, the company paid for an ad that was less likely to convert to a sale. And it fucks their analytics, too, since there's no indication to them that users didn't even search for the key term they're paying to advertise with.