the dangers of personalised search - sascon 2013
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Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
The dangers of Personalised Search #SAScon Barry Adams Pierce Communications
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Barry Adams
Digital Director at multi award winning creative agency
Pierce Communications in Belfast
Dutch (yes, really)
SEO polemicist
Twitter maniac (@badams)
Editor for award-winning blog State of Search
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
What is Personalised Search?
“Search results that vary based on the searcher’s profile and past behaviour.”
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Elements of Personalised Search
• Location
• Search history
• Browsing history
• Social circles
• Known interests
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Smart Personalisation
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Not-so-smart Personalisation
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Dumb Personalisation
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But all that is the stuff we notice….
What about the personalisation we don’t see?
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October 2012 research from DuckDuckGo: http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/impersonal-google-search-results-are-few-and-far-between-duckduckgo-finds.php
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Political bias results in SERP bias
Query: ‘climate change’;
• The Tory voter will see climate change denialist SERPs
• The Labour voter will see climate science SERPs
Which are the ‘best’ results?
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Google Maps Personalisation
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Personalised Maps
“In Google's world, public space is just something that stands between your house and the well-reviewed restaurant that you are dying to get to.”
- Evgeny Morozov
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/05/google_maps_personalization_will_hurt_public_space_and_engagement.html
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
What’s next, a Personalised World?
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The Filter Bubble
• Google will show you things it knows you like;
Your SERPs will be full of sites you visit regularly.
Your news will be from the sites whose perspectives &
viewpoints you agree with.
Your maps will be full of places you & your friends have
visited before.
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Why is that a bad thing?
• Because you’ll rarely be exposed to something new and unexpected.
• It erodes the commonalities between all people.
• Our worldviews will become increasingly polarised, isolated, and self-perpetuating.
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Why is it dangerous?
• People get things wrong all the time.
• But if you’re never exposed to alternative viewpoints, you’ll never know when you’re wrong.
• Result: unshakable convictions that are (probably) based on flawed information.
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Embrace doubt
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”
- Bertrand Russell
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Enjoy serendipity
“I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.”
- Franklin Pierce Adams
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Reject the Filter Bubble
Personalised search in Google is unavoidable. Thanks to Google+ you are logged in all the time, so Google tracks you everywhere.
Stop using Google.
Seriously. Stop it.
Alternatives:
DuckDuckGo
Blekko
Yandex
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
Reject the Filter Bubble
• Use Amazon when logged out.
• Install AdBlock Plus.
• Read different newspapers (just for the sake of all that is good in this world, NOT the Daily Mail!).
• Explore stuff online!
• Read Eli Pariser’s book ‘The Filter Bubble’.
Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013 Copyright. All Rights Reserved Pierce Communications. 2013
@badams badams@piercecommunications.co.uk http://www.piercecommunications.co.uk http://www.barryadams.co.uk
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