Search Bubbles

Why We Don't See The Entire Internet Anymore

Have you ever done a web search on a topic on your device and come up with entirely different results than those of someone else? I’m talking about two different people, two different devices, using the same search terms.

I know I have seen this happen to many users, it used to happen to me. But why aren’t we getting the same results? If we’re both using Google, using the same search terms, and different devices, it should be the same, right?

You Are The Product

Google doesn’t work the way some users believe that it works. Most users tend to believe that Google is showing them results that are the best on the internet. But that is only partially true.

Because most users have given up their privacy, in return for convenience, Google has amassed a lot of data on its users. That data is used for various things. One of which is to give its users tailored search results.

These are results based on your habits, likes, search history, location history, friends, emails, contacts, and more. Google uses all the data that it collects on its users to build profiles within the algorithm.

This is essentially building a bubble for each user. A bubble where the search results will show the user what the algorithm believes that specific user will like most. Yes, there are sometimes similar results between users and yes, Google does serve some results outside the algorithm. But the core of its results are based on using the product’s (you are the product) data to try to be “helpful” in its return.

Most People Don’t See The Entire Internet

Most people don’t see the entire internet, and that’s true for anyone. It would take a long time to see all there is to see out there. This is why users seem to be happy to give up privacy and data, for Google to return results that make them happy.

But at the same time. These algorithms lock users into their own eco chambers that, many times, end up causing more harm than good. This is particularly true in politics. As the algorithm tends to feed on the user’s bias and feed them only information and data that is inline with their content consumption.

Before the days of search algorithms, the information was just out there for you to look through and parse for yourself. With Google’s algorithm, this is no longer necessary.

I can see the need for parsing out bad content over good informative content, but Google’s personalization layer using user data goes far beyond that. It has turned the world into a billion little bubbles, all listening to the voices in their own little heads.

Conclusion

I was chatting with The Bone Writer today about Google, search, and the state of the internet. He seems to think that Google’s dominance in search might be starting to wane and alternatives like Bing and DuckDuckGo might become more relevant. I’m more of a pessimist in this regard.

While I would like to see Google’s search bubbles burst, I don’t think they will any time soon, just due to the internet user base’s need for convenience and features. Users are willing to give up privacy and security in exchange for what they feel is a service that saves them time.

I’d like to go back to the early days of search, no targeted algorithms and websites are found by their organic popularity, not by algorithm and AdSense dollars spent. But we are probably long past that.