Do we really control the information on the internet? 9

[zwarawut]

Hi all,

As we know, the Internet gives us a new way to get the information easily and the search engine is our nice tool to grab the information we want. I always use the search engine to search for everything on the internet and I really think that I got a totally control over the information.

Recently, I read the article from PCWorld.com "Do Search Engines Tell the Truth?" which can be found here

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,59384,00.asp

. This article is about the reliable of the search engine. It reported that "Under paid inclusion, a Web site pays the engine to "crawl" the site's pages and include them in the index the engine uses to generate its search results. With paid placement, the Web site pays to place links to its
pages near the top of relevant search results." This means the
information was pushed to us. So, how can we believe the search result from the search engine? If someone wants to control the internet they just control the search engine. The success chance is so high, because not many people realize about this.

I am wondering if this is true. We can only get the
information which they want us to know. We cannot control the information we want anymore.

Any comments on this issue?

Regards,
Warawut Choksaengthong
MIMS Monash University

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I have heard this rumour, and it may well be true. It may also be true that some book publishing companies will only publish books if the author pays them enough, or can guarantee shifting units.

I like Google

http://www.google.com

as an internet search engine - and it seems pretty accurate to me.

We don't control the information anyway - we can only selectively research. By comparing different results we can filter out the rubbish from the good stuff.

Try different search engines and compare the results.

My $0.02

 

[edfair]

There are no controls on content so it is possible that purported information can be false and no controls on search engines so false information can be high on the hit list.
Like everything else in life, move cautiously and think for yourself.
I've cut my searches back to using google and if I need others then I use dogpile. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[iza]

yes, think by yourself and check different sources, compare, make your own mind
there have been many cases where people made yahoo (for instance but i know about others) display totally imagined headlines and false news - or where people made false info look like genuine one, and where taken seriously (just like the recent cat in a bottle story) ...
all this is because people don't think by themselves and tend to believe anything, as "it was in the paper" or "i've read it on the internet" ...

 

[gunthnp]

I have to agree with Ed Fair and iza anyone can put anything up check it (never take a stock tip in a chat room) about paying search engines google tells you which links are paid for they are highlighted and at the top so when you click it has something to do with what you where looking for and google makes a few bucks they are trying to hide the fact the link a paid for. gunthnp
Have you ever woken up and realized you where not alive.

 

[pivan]

Several years ago...if you constructed an HTML page with appropriate keywords and descriptions in Meta tags.. your sight would rank quite high in placement.

It seems to me that two factors have come into play so that the above is not really true.

1) The shear number of web pages.
2) The most desirable page placements on search results are now being sold by Yahoo, Excite etc.

Ya gotta pay to play ..

pivan In not now, when?
If not here, where?
If not us, who?

Just do it!!

 

[gunthnp]

well Pivan your right at lest with Yahoo if you have a yahoo store you can get higher in the listings for an extra fee gunthnp
Have you ever woken up and realized you where not alive.

 

[MasterRacker]

So certain deep pocketed sites float to the top - big deal. The real issue is to make sure the searchers are aware of this. With a page indexing site like Google, anything containing your search term will still show up, it just might be further down the list. Good research still requires the work of digging.

My personal favorites:

Google:

http://www.google.com

All The Web:

http://www.alltheweb.com

The Open Directory Project:

http://dmoz.org/

(This one is human edited but it turns up interestingly different results from the usual suspects sometimes.)


Jeff

I haven't lost my mind - I know it's backed up on tape somewhere ....

 

[gunthnp]

I have problem with sites paying to be up higher in the list as long as it is made know like google does but yahoo does not make it public that they do this. but it all comes down to is check everything gunthnp
Have you ever woken up and realized you where not alive.

 

[iza]

and anyway, paying or not paying doesn't change anyting to the CONTENT of the info, even if you double or triple check - what i mean is, see for example what happened during the gulf war or what's happening in the Balkans : we don't have the actual info, we have the info the otan want us to hear - and it's totally different from the truth
so there's no other solution than using our brains ...

 

[zwarawut]

I agree with you all that we have to compare the search results from search engines by ourselves. This issue is not a big deal for expert users, but for end users, which I think most of the internet users are in this group, this might be a problem. Shall we find a better way out?

 

[Guest_imported]

Anyway, I am also an end users who might have knowledge enough to justify whether the information is really reliable or it was posted by intentionally or hidden purpose for personal advantage. Are there any evidence that help us to scrutinize the information?

 

[gunthnp]

do you buy a car on what the car makers says or do you read other reviews do the same online. gunthnp
Have you ever woken up and realized you where not alive.

 

[pivan]

Why dont one of you software engineers develop on unbiased search engine like Yahoo was in its begining stages. It doesn't really appear to be that difficult and it seems like there would be a realy great demand.

Once it got popular you could then fund your operation through advertising...and then selling paid placement ...and then...oops came full circle here.

I am still surprised at the amount of free information available on the internet. I expect that to change in the years to come considering that knowledge is power and the government and business are already moving in to control the internet.

I use Copernic for my searches and it gets me the information that I need 90 % of the time. Yahoo has always sucked...along with AOL. To white bread for me.

pivan

In not now, when?
If not here, where?
If not us, who?

Just do it!!