On 20/11/14 04:04, Darac Marjal wrote: > On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 03:49:09PM +0000, Curt wrote: >> On 2014-11-19, Renaud OLGIATI <ren...@olgiati-in-paraguay.org> >> wrote: >>> >>>> The claim is your Google search history affects your Google >>>> search results. >>> >>> Seems Google tailors your results depending on what you look >>> at; frinstance if they see that you often go to the Wikipedia >>> article on the query subject, they will put wikipedia higher in >>> your results. >>> >> >> The link posted by Darac (http://dontbubble.us/) claims that >> Google results are tailored *based on your search history*. >> >> I don't have a search history. I had no cookies, either, when I >> made the search. Nor was I logged in to their services. >> >> So I don't see how Google could have tailored my results. > > Do you regularly search from the same IP address? Do you regularly > search from the same browser? Do you regularly search from the > same country? > > Because Google don't publish their search algorithm, it's > impossible to tell how they tailor their results for "anonymous" > users. It's not beyond the realms of possibility (nor beyond > Google's resources) to tailor results based on a number of factors. > "Firefox users prefer github", "Internet Explorer users are > generally conservative", "Chinese users should not be shown > 'unacceptable' ideas" are all customisations that Google *COULD* > implement, all with the goal of getting the best click-through > statistics.
It's "possible" - but it's not the case. Click-through-statistics isn't the primary purpose, relevant results is. It's possible that people can live on orange juice alone - but nor is it the case. And any demand to "prove it" does nothing to change a belief into a fact. Google *can* tailor search results, the user can easily avoid tailored search results. When Google tailors search results the fact they have been tailored is clearly evident and a button is displayed, which upon clicking, will give you un-tailored search results. Impel != Compel As previously stated (for those that can't or won't read) - there are a number of factors that affect search results, the main ones being:- ;where you are when you make the query (the search engines are distributed and not synched in real-time + they differ slightly according to local language and laws) ;the index is based, mainly[*1] on backlinks harvested by Googlebot i.e. it's dynamic (e.g. these posts modify the results) [*1] Google employs thousands - while not published the search results algorithm is not like the formula for Coke-a-Cola. At what point does this thread become petty and stupid? While it may satisfy the desires of those with a conspiracy axe to grind, or some sort of resentment based on the false idea that Brian made them look silly for not performing a simple search for an answer to their question - none of this is remotely relevant to the OP's question. -- "The pure and simple truth is that the truth is rarely pure and never simple" -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/546cfa09.3000...@gmail.com
