Read more: Engines of the future: What鈥檚 next in internet search?
Companies seeking to boost their sites鈥� rankings are trying to subvert search engines鈥� algorithms on an industrial scale
鈥淪earch engines are the sunlight of the web, showing us what is visible,鈥� says Kevin Chang, a computer scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But by their nature, he adds, the beams that guide us also cast deep shadows.
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Chang is referring to the huge power that search engines wield. With online commerce worth $34 billion a year in the US alone, any bias for or against a company in search results can have a huge effect on its bottom line.
Some studies suggest that search engines reinforce inequalities in the online world by giving websites that are already popular a high ranking in results, thus making them even more popular 鈥� an effect dubbed 鈥淕ooglearchy鈥�. Other studies contradict this, indicating that web searches can boost low-key sites too.
Whatever the truth, with so much potential business at stake it is hardly surprising that website owners tweak their sites to try to ensure they float to the top of the rankings. Some even resort to tricks such as spamdexing 鈥� overstuffing web pages with keywords, say, or creating 鈥渓ink farms鈥� of pages that repeatedly link to each other.
Now companies such as US-based are trying to subvert search engines鈥� algorithms on an industrial scale 鈥� in Demand Media鈥檚 case, by mining the most popular keywords and links daily, then inserting them into thousands of brief, ad-laced 鈥渉ow-to鈥� videos and articles it has churned out to capitalise on these trends. Demand Media鈥檚 goal is to flood the web with a million of these high-profile pages every month and profit from the advertising revenue that they generate. It is not the only company adopting this strategy. In December 2009 internet giant it would be following suit. And in May this year , another company producing 鈥渟earch optimised鈥� content.
So are search engines unwittingly creating a web ? Not necessarily, says Sue Feldman of consultants IDC, based in Boston: 鈥淲hen you present people with a search result that鈥檚 intended more to sell them something than tell them something, they don鈥檛 react positively.鈥� According to internet analysts Hitwise, surfers are becoming more sophisticated too, adding extra words in each search query for better results. Besides, developments such as semantic search and the ability of search engines to tailor results to your search history and location will help us avoid this cyberlitter, says Stephen E. Arnold, author of The Google Trilogy. 鈥淭he search experience will be more fluid and more intelligent,鈥� he predicts.
