I just read an article in Newsweek called A Search Engine of Our Own. The article is about a search engine called Rushmore Drive. This search engine developed out of focus groups that expressed a need for a search engine that catered to African American users.
This is how Rushmore Drive describes themselves on their website:
What is RushmoreDrive?
Launched in April 2008, RushmoreDrive is a first-of-its-kind search engine for the Black
community. We deliver a blend of mainstream search results plus a layer of more relevant search results influenced by the Black community. RushmoreDrive is where the Black community goes to find the best search results.... RushmoreDrive News enables the Black community to find news headlines from the entire World Wide Web, including well known Black media, blogs and countless relevant online voices, as well as recognized mainstream news sources.
RushmoreDrive is the starting point and the destination for its users to find what is most relevant to the Black community.
Rushmore Drive caters to the African American user. I find myself wondering if Google caters to white users? The article explains that searching is "imperfect," and I definitely agree with that. I see many of my students struggling to find information through Google. The problem is often in the search terms that students choose. Are they choosing search terms based on their demographic differences or experiences?
The article gives an example of a search. "When users in an area with a large black population, like Atlanta, do a search for "Whitney," they are more likely to be looking for the singer Whitney Houston or the civil-rights activist Whitney M. Young than for, say, the Whitney Museum, which might be choice No. 1 for users in an area with a large white population, like Boise, Idaho."
I think this demographic difference is interesting to consider. What are the implications for library users?
Should search engines be altered for generational demographics? What would a search engine look like for Millennials compared to Baby Boomers?
*** Update: This search engine has "closed."
Information from a Huffington Post article-
"Spokeswoman Stacy Simpson said Wednesday that the Barry Diller-led Internet services company will close the site Friday after an unsuccessful effort to sell it. She also said that Johnny Taylor, the site's chief executive, has resigned."
Retweet this
3 comments:
I'm not sure that creating search algorithms for different demographics is the best idea. In the race example, it ignores class and geographic distinctions. (Would people in Boise really want to know about a museum in NYC? Wouldn't wealthier demographics be more like to want certain demographics?) And I think you'd have to keep narrowing demographics down until it's monumentally splintered. Moreover, it limits the possibility of random discovery. And I think this would be true of creating search engines for different generations as well.
Oops, I meant "Wouldn't wealthier demographics be more likely to want certain results."
My bad.
Thanks for your comment, Tiffany.
I wonder if the future of search engines will have class and geographic distinctions. That makes more sense to me than "race."
For example, in Minneapolis there is a bar called Bootleggers. I am 26, and I am willing to bet that most 21-30 year olds in the Twin Cities, searching Google for "bootleggers" are trying to find directions for the bar and/or happy specials, not the history of bootlegging.
Also, will the search engines change results based on the geographic zone, or will the search engines splinter into separate sites that are catered to k-12, Baby Boomers, etc?
Knowing that Google is such a powerhouse, I can't see a site like Rushmore Drive overtaking or becoming remotely competitive with Google. The change will probably come within Google. Are search engines able to pick up a IP address from a computer?
Post a Comment