Google now controls 65% of the search market, with indications its dominance will continue to grow. With its humble ambition of organizing the worlds information, it has become a steady presence in how many people interact with information (and with each other). Yet most people are not aware of how Google works. How and why it returns the results it does. Or the decisions Google makes on behalf of searchers. I delivered a session today on Google addressing these concerns (wiki page for the session). It is critical that people become aware of how search tools work; after all search engines "interfere" with information in a myriad of ways in order to try and make it more relevant to the searcher. Most people aren't aware that Google delivers different results based on the location of search origin (I get very different results in the US vs. Canada). Or how Google weights sites and displays results. (In preparing for the session, I did find out that a search query that takes 1/4 of a second involves over 1000 of Google's machines).
Posted by gsiemens at January 18, 2008 12:22 AM | TrackBackGreat post - thanks for providing the link to the Wiki. I ran a session with our Yr 10 students and they were really interested in the workings of Google, especially how it makes a profit. I really enjoy reading your blog - always interesting.
Posted by: Jenny Luca at January 18, 2008 8:09 AMThis is fascinating--thanks for posting.
Posted by: Trina at January 18, 2008 10:57 AM