[WEB4LIB] RE: More on Google going commercial

[Craighton Hippenhammer]

What I like most about Google's relevancy/placement methods is their PageRank based on referring links.  It's a method based on the assumption that there are a few human gray cells somewhere making link selections they think contain some value. Taken on an individual basis, that assumption might be presumptive, but taken together makes a pretty good algorithm element.  And I'm for Google making money and surviving, too.  They just need to get off their purist/ethical high horse ("though we do run relevant ads above and next to our results..." see http://www.google.com/technology/index.html ).

The reason I revisited this topic is because I am interested in this particular mode of e-business development which appears to be fairly successful with Internet opinion leadership and multi-decade Internet purists.  The process goes something like this.  Start out giving away really good stuff free.  Become a Good Guy.  Talk the techie lingo.  Take the high road by being very clear about how we do everything and about how we will forever stay above the fray by not going commercial.  We don't do tricky things like the other guys. And we certainly wouldn't have an ad on our site.  Heavens!  Well, OK, maybe we'll try just one or two, you know, obscure, out-of-the-way ones, but that'll be all!  What?  No hate mail?  Hey, let's add a few more and start talking about the necessity of survival and getting in the black.  People feel for us that way.  Just keep everything clear and up front on every new commercial enterprise (of course we've hired marketing gurus to tell us how to give nasty commercial things really good sounding names) and keep making it all look like the original, free purist approach we originally started out with. Turn up the (commercial) heat gradually so the (dumb) frogs don't know they're getting boiled.

While my world ( and Dan's world and others on this list) might revolve around "all-knowing" college students, the world doesn't revolve around them, nor do search engine CEOs make their decisions with them in mind.  There are huge numbers of people out there who are newbies and/or ignorant to the subtleties of SE inner workings.  "Of course, I always look at the first record returned in my search list. It's the most important, isn't it?  And, oh goody.  Look.  It's nicely highlighted for me, too."  And what a pretty phrase "sponsored link" is.  Nothing as ugly as "paid advertisement."

Craighton Hippenhammer
Information Technology Librarian
Olivet Nazarene University
chhammer at olivet.edu


>>> "gary price" <gprice at gwu.edu> 01/02/02 03:47PM >>>
A couple of points.

1) In addition to the section of the Google site Gary W. mentions you might
also find Brin and Page's  original paper about Google informative.
"The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine"
http://www7.scu.edu.au/programme/fullpapers/1921/com1921.htm


2) While Google does not sell placement/relevancy it's important to remember
that an entire industry of search optimization "experts" work to place sites at the top of result rankings for given keywords. This is the case with Google as well as most other engines. To learn more take a look at the discussions and the like at Webmasterworld.Com http://www.webmasterworld.com and/or direct to the Google forum: http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/index.htm
Actually, I find some of the knowledge I learn from these forums very
useful.

Is this optimization a bad thing ? No, but it does mean we should be at
least aware that this industry exists and that many issues come into play with the "hits" that are returned from any engine. In my mind it also illustrates  the importance of precise search terms and making use of the power or advanced search/limiting options many tools offer.

cheers,

Gary D. Price, MLIS
Librarian
Gary Price Library Research and Internet Consulting
gprice at gwu.edu
----- Original Message -----
From: <gwasdin at nypl.org>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 3:14 PM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] RE: More on Google going commercial


>
> It isn't a thorough explanation, but Google does explain how its ranking
> system works at http://www.google.com/technology/index.html
>
> Google does not allow increased ranking for pay.....they are placed in the
> ads at the top and around the search results.
>
> Gary A. Wasdin
> Training Coordinator
> The New York Public Library
> Humanities and Social Sciences Library
> New York, NY  10018-2788
> 212-930-9284
> gwasdin at nypl.org
>
>
> Another major problem with commercialization of web search engines is that
> sponsor sites have their listings moved to the top of the retrieval list.
> As it is, the algorithms which determine the relevance of a given search
> are  not available for examination by the searcher.  With commercial sponsors, retrieval can be skewed by factors which have little to do with the
> relevance to a given search.
>
> Bruce Abbott
> Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Library
> 433 Bolivar St.
> New Orleans, LA  70112
>



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