THREAD: I've spent most of the last decade educating policy makers about the ways Google biases its results to help itself (while harming consumers).
In those years, I haven't seen a more comprehensive journalistic tour de force on this topic:
themarkup.org/google-the-gia… 👈Read it!
In those years, I haven't seen a more comprehensive journalistic tour de force on this topic:
themarkup.org/google-the-gia… 👈Read it!
One striking aspect of the piece is Google's attempt to rebut multiple elements. This never happens. Google's usually condescending to the reporter and sends a glib, dismissive sentence-or-two statement.
This story has clearly struck a nerve in Mountain View.
This story has clearly struck a nerve in Mountain View.
What @JackNicas says here is 💯: this is all about antitrust, and search is the holy grail.
All other areas of dominance stem from that foundation.
All other areas of dominance stem from that foundation.
The timing couldn't be worse for Google as Sundar Pichai will testify before the House Antitrust Subcommittee tomorrow. This subcommittee has pored over 1 million documents from the companies & will come armed with fastballs. (Unlike w/Schmidt in 2011🤦♂️)
Some say, "I just want an answer!" or "this is bad for websites, but good for users"...
With local search, Google's self-dealing steers people to its own map; maps are helpful, but the info being pinned to the map comes exclusively from Google.
With local search, Google's self-dealing steers people to its own map; maps are helpful, but the info being pinned to the map comes exclusively from Google.
There's no reason Google can't walk & chew gum at the same time: design answer boxes with the goal of driving traffic to (not siphoning from) the web. Local is 40% (plurality) of search volume, so they siphon aggressively. Recipe search is relatively rare, so traffic goes to web.
In '15, I worked w/@superwuster to show it would be trivial for Google to power its local box using an organic mechanism. RCT showed consumers preferred the less restrictive alternative. As w/@themarkup story, Google claimed the methodology was flawed🙄
It's important to understand these design decisions don't just hurt smaller vertical services like local. It hurts the web as a whole. @themarkup story helps us understand how boxes scraped from services like Wikipedia are optimized to keep people on Google.
Another reason this piece is so powerful is that in addition to the slick, interactive graphics, @themarkup lets you kick the tires on the methodology. It's a story behind the story with links to Github repos and deep explanations of the empirical approach themarkup.org/google-the-gia…
If antitrust enforcers in the state AG offices and at the DOJ read both the story and study its methodology, I suspect many elements of the piece will make their way into a US v Google legal filing. The story is that powerful. Hats off to @themarkup @adrjeffries @LeonYin 👏
