Google Is Making Your Search Results Worse: Study
When you type a term into Google DD and hit
return, you don`t just get search results, which are what the industry refers
to as organic search // Depending on your query, Google can also
bring up a few results not from the wider web but from Google itself
search for 2+2 and you`ll get a calculator box, for example
// But one type of Google search box has raised the ire of consumer watchdogs
// When users search for a local query Brooklyn coffeeshop Google DD displays a
box of results from its own products on top of the organic results // So
instead of a Yelp listing for a java joint in Williamsburg, you`ll get a
package of seven Google Plus DD listings // It`s no secret that Google prefers
its own apps and services for its local OneBox search results //
Google DD insists that its decisions
deliver better results for the consumer, but a new study published over the
weekend disagrees, stating when it comes to local search, Google DD is
presenting its users with a degraded version of its search engine //
The Yelp sponsored study, authored by Columbia
Law School professor Tim Wu and Harvard Business School`s Michael Luca,
compared Google`s default search results with those derived through a browser
plug in called Focus on the User Local// The plug in takes Google`s organically
derived search results and puts them in the Google OneBox where its Google Plus
results usually appear// They reprogrammed the Google search engine to
populate the OneBox with what was saying was the best stuff, Wu
said in an interview with International Business Times// Google says they are
using OneBox to create a better thing for consumers, and sometimes, as our A/B
testing shows, they`re not, Wu said// They`re actually degrading
their own search when they`re facing someone they`re nervous about// I think
that`s just not very Google// They`re not giving you the best product//
The results are striking// According to the study, users are 45 percent
more likely to engage with search results when they`re organic// The 2,690
subjects surveyed ended up preferring organic search to Google Plus because of
subtle cues, like the number of reviews// The results indicate that consumers
prefer results from specialized services like Expedia, Yelp and ZocDoc to
Google`s own Google Plus listings because, as Wu argues, users can sense what's
a good search result and what`s bad quality content// Some of the Google Plus
stuff looks a little spammy// Why does the most famous restaurant in New York
have three reviews, you know* Wu said// My more general thesis is,
wherever Google Plus goes, bad things follow// There`s a war between what I
would say is the true soul of Google and Google Plus// So I`m kind of calling
on Google to be more Google , and I`m fighting for Google over Google Plus, Wu
added// When it comes to local searches, the study reveals that users are less
likely to click on nonorganic results, suggesting that Google search isn`t as
good as it could be if Google were to ditch the promotion of its own services
key to proving consumer harm, which, according to the authors, is
relevant to nearly any competition law one might care to invoke//
Google`s empire is built on search, and, increasingly, its dominance in
the space is being probed by antitrust authorities// According to analytics
firm StatCounter, Google controls 75 percent of the U//S// search market,
excluding searches from mobile devices// Google on Monday gained a six week
extension to reply to recent European Union antitrust charges that it diverts
traffic from rivals to its own sites through search boxes like the local OneBox//
In 2012, an internal Federal Trade Commission report said the agency should sue
Google over similar practices, although the FTC ultimately announced that the
company had not violated anti competition statutes//
When you type a term into Google DD and hit
return, you don`t just get search results, which are what the industry refers
to as organic search // Depending on your query, Google can also
bring up a few results not from the wider web but from Google itself
search for 2+2 and you`ll get a calculator box, for example
// But one type of Google search box has raised the ire of consumer watchdogs
// When users search for a local query Brooklyn coffeeshop Google DD displays a
box of results from its own products on top of the organic results // So
instead of a Yelp listing for a java joint in Williamsburg, you`ll get a
package of seven Google Plus DD listings // It`s no secret that Google prefers
its own apps and services for its local OneBox search results //
Google DD insists that its decisions
deliver better results for the consumer, but a new study published over the
weekend disagrees, stating when it comes to local search, Google DD is
presenting its users with a degraded version of its search engine //
The Yelp sponsored study, authored by Columbia
Law School professor Tim Wu and Harvard Business School`s Michael Luca,
compared Google`s default search results with those derived through a browser
plug in called Focus on the User Local// The plug in takes Google`s organically
derived search results and puts them in the Google OneBox where its Google Plus
results usually appear// They reprogrammed the Google search engine to
populate the OneBox with what was saying was the best stuff, Wu
said in an interview with International Business Times// Google says they are
using OneBox to create a better thing for consumers, and sometimes, as our A/B
testing shows, they`re not, Wu said// They`re actually degrading
their own search when they`re facing someone they`re nervous about// I think
that`s just not very Google// They`re not giving you the best product//
The results are striking// According to the study, users are 45 percent
more likely to engage with search results when they`re organic// The 2,690
subjects surveyed ended up preferring organic search to Google Plus because of
subtle cues, like the number of reviews// The results indicate that consumers
prefer results from specialized services like Expedia, Yelp and ZocDoc to
Google`s own Google Plus listings because, as Wu argues, users can sense what's
a good search result and what`s bad quality content// Some of the Google Plus
stuff looks a little spammy// Why does the most famous restaurant in New York
have three reviews, you know* Wu said// My more general thesis is,
wherever Google Plus goes, bad things follow// There`s a war between what I
would say is the true soul of Google and Google Plus// So I`m kind of calling
on Google to be more Google , and I`m fighting for Google over Google Plus, Wu
added// When it comes to local searches, the study reveals that users are less
likely to click on nonorganic results, suggesting that Google search isn`t as
good as it could be if Google were to ditch the promotion of its own services
key to proving consumer harm, which, according to the authors, is
relevant to nearly any competition law one might care to invoke//
Google`s empire is built on search, and, increasingly, its dominance in
the space is being probed by antitrust authorities// According to analytics
firm StatCounter, Google controls 75 percent of the U//S// search market,
excluding searches from mobile devices// Google on Monday gained a six week
extension to reply to recent European Union antitrust charges that it diverts
traffic from rivals to its own sites through search boxes like the local OneBox//
In 2012, an internal Federal Trade Commission report said the agency should sue
Google over similar practices, although the FTC ultimately announced that the
company had not violated anti competition statutes//