I penned a post some time back titled "How Does Google Really Work?" as I delved into the inner workings of this ubiquitous search engine. During my research, I stumbled upon information about Google bots and began to ponder whether they truly contribute to making searches more efficient. However, despite my efforts, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that these Google bots were more akin to "spy bots," tracking my online activities and preferences.
It dawned on me that I had been asking the wrong question all along. Instead of questioning whether Google bots make searches more efficient, I should have been asking why they seem to do so.
Why, for instance, did real estate sites for Rocky start appearing on my Facebook feed when I was house hunting in November? And why did advertisements for "Bench" clothing stores pop up after I returned from a shopping spree in Calgary? I've finally uncovered the answer.
While we often view the internet as a vast repository of knowledge and resources, I've come to realize that the information presented to us online is carefully tailored to match our interests and preferences. In essence, the web weaves a personalized experience based on our online behavior.
5 comments:
Interesting! I have also wondered about this. Most of the posts around my email pages and facebook pages are about what I have been looking at online and things of interst. I was telling June the other day that it was kinda scary! We leave a trail everywhere we go online!
Yes we sure do! It is called our "digital footprint." The problem (i think) is that all of the information is going to be "catered" (filtered to us) based on our "data" out there. It doesn't become "free knowledge" anymore...commercialism to a whole new level :(
Even watch your hits when you do searches. "It" knows your location and will filter information to you based on where you are. We could do the same search in different places, and get totally different hits, and they will be based on our "digital footprint."
I am glad you blogged about this - just the other day on trip advisor, I was trying to figure out how FB friends of mine were showing up with pictures and recommendations on where they had been...a little scary!
Thanks for blogging about this Danielle. I had wondered about this as well. I hope that we (individually and globally) are able to overcome the "web of one" phenomenon.
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