A Word on Filter Bubbles

A few weeks ago, I listened to this TED talk on filter bubbles, given by Eli Pariser (I highly recommend it!). In short, Pariser discusses how Google shows different search results to different people, based on myriad factors including location, age, gender, browsing history, etc.

While I appreciate what Google is doing with local search (I really don't want to search for pizzeria and come up with results in Arizona), I find it a tad frightening that there is no standard version of Google search. Before listening to Pariser's talk, I always assumed that if I was logged out of my Google account, I would see a "standard" set of results, and that those same results would displayed to any user who was similarly not logged in. But alas, this is not the case. Even while searching "anonymously," Google will still consider your location, your operating system, and your browser choice, among other identifying characteristics.

My advice to Google: Offer more options in terms of tweaking the search results that an individual user sees. Users most likely don't always wish to search locally, or to see only results that were popular with others of a similar age or ethnicity. It is critically important that people see certain information, even if their demographic data and browsing history indicate they might disagree with it. Progress cannot be made if Google spoonfeeds to us only content we find agreeable. Let's pop the bubble!