Comments on: Personalized Search Opacity http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2009/12/08/personalized-search-opacity.html Musings of a techie lawyer Sun, 20 May 2012 19:46:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-bleeding By: Barney Pell http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2009/12/08/personalized-search-opacity.html#comment-4650 Barney Pell Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:15:21 +0000 http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/?p=636#comment-4650 Wendy, when you originally asked me the question about whether search engines would offer features to let users adjust how various information was used in search results, I thought you were asking about some form of tunability, and my answer was that I think consumers wouldn't value those added features. I also think that if a typical user is happy with a search engine's results then they won't be concerned with whether the results were "fair". But I completely agree that there are groups of users who I wouldn't deem typical consumers, which include SEO community, journalists, researchers, and consumer watchdogs, who could be very concerned with the details of search algorithms and results, including issues of fairness and bias. These concerns could potentially be addressed through increased transparency, which becomes more challenging to achieve in the presence of increased personalization. I think the feature that Matt points out, to flag that results are personalized and let a user turn them off, is an important feature in this regard. Going beyond that with more detailed explanations of how a result is personalized or what specific factors were taken into account seems difficult, because search engines take account of so many features already. Note also that there are already other forms of tuning beyond personalization that make it difficult to compare results. For example, some search engines use your location (e.g. based on IP address) to provide better search results for queries with local intent. This is so natural, and so useful, that it's not even clear what it would mean to "turn off" the localization, as such results might not make much sense. As intent, context, and personalization become increasingly central in search, I expect that turning these features off would seem as bizarre as removing prescription lenses or wearing clothes that fit everyone. So your points about the difficulty of fairness detection in this new world are spot on. Wendy, when you originally asked me the question about whether search engines would offer features to let users adjust how various information was used in search results, I thought you were asking about some form of tunability, and my answer was that I think consumers wouldn’t value those added features. I also think that if a typical user is happy with a search engine’s results then they won’t be concerned with whether the results were “fair”. But I completely agree that there are groups of users who I wouldn’t deem typical consumers, which include SEO community, journalists, researchers, and consumer watchdogs, who could be very concerned with the details of search algorithms and results, including issues of fairness and bias. These concerns could potentially be addressed through increased transparency, which becomes more challenging to achieve in the presence of increased personalization.

I think the feature that Matt points out, to flag that results are personalized and let a user turn them off, is an important feature in this regard. Going beyond that with more detailed explanations of how a result is personalized or what specific factors were taken into account seems difficult, because search engines take account of so many features already.

Note also that there are already other forms of tuning beyond personalization that make it difficult to compare results. For example, some search engines use your location (e.g. based on IP address) to provide better search results for queries with local intent. This is so natural, and so useful, that it’s not even clear what it would mean to “turn off” the localization, as such results might not make much sense. As intent, context, and personalization become increasingly central in search, I expect that turning these features off would seem as bizarre as removing prescription lenses or wearing clothes that fit everyone. So your points about the difficulty of fairness detection in this new world are spot on.

]]> By: cast customer http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2009/12/08/personalized-search-opacity.html#comment-4649 cast customer Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:15:52 +0000 http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/?p=636#comment-4649 thanks for serving up the opt-out link thanks for serving up the opt-out link

]]> By: wseltzer http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2009/12/08/personalized-search-opacity.html#comment-4645 wseltzer Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:57:26 +0000 http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/?p=636#comment-4645 Thanks Matt. I'm glad it's relatively easy to see the non-personalized version of the search, and hope enough people will notice and follow the links when they have questions about results. Thanks Matt. I’m glad it’s relatively easy to see the non-personalized version of the search, and hope enough people will notice and follow the links when they have questions about results.

]]> By: Matt Cutts http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2009/12/08/personalized-search-opacity.html#comment-4644 Matt Cutts Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:31:38 +0000 http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/?p=636#comment-4644 Good questions. I think the answer is two-fold. First, search personalization is actually quite soft. Second (and more importantly), there's a link in the top right to see that the results were personalized. From there, you can turn off the personalization so that people can compare results without personalization. Good questions. I think the answer is two-fold. First, search personalization is actually quite soft. Second (and more importantly), there’s a link in the top right to see that the results were personalized. From there, you can turn off the personalization so that people can compare results without personalization.

]]>