Recently, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was a guest on the NPR program, All Things Considered. During the program, Schmidt explained Google’s positions on advertising, data mining, and censorship. The interview also touched on the company’s operations in China. To listen to the complete interview, click here.
One thing that struck me during the interview was how Schmidt described what he termed “useful content.” When asked to explain how Google determines its search rankings, Schmidt said “We want our algorithm to recognize the stuff which has one view or one reader versus the stuff that is really used by an awful lot of people.” In other words, Google seeks to put the most widely used information at the top of search rankings.
Of course, this makes perfect sense. If more people visit CNN for their news than any other news website on the Internet, why shouldn’t it rank more highly than an anonymous blog that hasn’t been updated since 2002? The problem is that popularity and legitimacy do not always go hand in hand. How does Google rank sites that have millions of users, but offer no useful content?
Take, for example, the now closed college gossip website, JuicyCampus.com. While the site was online, it attracted millions of visitors and consistently held strong positions in Google searches for individual names. If not for the fact that the website never found a solid revenue stream, Juicy Campus would still be online today providing bullies with a public platform to anonymously slander their peers and classmates.
While it’s hard not to admire Google for the incredible advances the company has made in its relatively short lifetime, there is still a lot that could be done to help protect individuals from misrepresentation and slander online. In the meantime, make sure to take all the necessary steps to control your reputation and protect your privacy online.
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