Lemmy Today

Say you search for “children’s clothing.” Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for “NIKOLAI-brand kidswear,” making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren’t searching for at all. It’s not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don’t get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape.

cross-posted from !google@lemdro.id

• 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.

Google likely alters queries billions of times a day in trillions of different variations. Here’s how it works. Say you search for “children’s clothing.” Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for “NIKOLAI-brand kidswear,” making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren’t searching for at all. It’s not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don’t get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape.

There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.