Posts Tagged ‘Search Engine’
Google hits back against German copyright law
Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:08
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BERLIN — Google launched an Internet campaign in Germany on Tuesday aiming to drum up public support against a proposed law that would force the search engine to pay publishers for content offered on the site.

The one-minute Internet video, entitled “defend your net”, shows consumers using the search engine to find what they want on the web.

“For more than 10 years, you have been able to find the things that move you. (Read more…) A planned law will now change that,” the firm says in the video.

“Do you want that to happen? Get involved,” ends the message, offering users the possibility to sign an online petition against the law, due to be debated in the Bundestag lower house of parliament on Thursday.

The draft law — dubbed the “Lex Google” as the giant US search engine is seen as the main target — would force search engines to pay a fee to publishers when Internet users click through to their content.

Demanded for many years by powerful media groups such as Axel Springer and Bertelsmann, which want to retain the copyright over their content, the draft legislation is backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.

The media groups also argue that a user of “Google News” can simply read the short summaries offered on the front page to get his or her fix of the daily news, rather than clicking through to the paper concerned.

But the head of Google Germany, Stefan Tweraser, hit back, saying: “The majority of citizens have never heard of this draft law even though it could affect all Internet users in Germany.”

Tweraser said the law would restrict the content citizens could access on the web and result in higher costs for companies.

However, Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger noted that consumers did have a choice.

“There are other search engines than Google,” she told business daily Handelsblatt in its Wednesday edition.

France is also pushing Google to compensate media websites.

 
When Will The World End? Is Neil Armstrong Muslim? Was George Washington Gay?
Thursday, 22 November 2012 12:00
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Apparently the most popular internet search question we have about celebrities is whether or not they are gay. Even, or perhaps especially, the Pope. Via the New York Times:

There are the questions you ask friends, family and close confidants. And then there are the questions you ask the Internet. (Read more…)

Search engines have long provided clues to the topics people look up. But now sites like Google and Bing are showing the precise questions that are most frequently asked, giving everyone a chance to peer virtually over one another’s shoulders at private curiosities. And they are revealing interesting patterns.

Frequently asked questions include: When will the world end? Is Neil Armstrong Muslim? Was George Washington gay?

The questions come from a feature that Google calls “autocomplete” and Microsoft calls “autosuggest.” These anticipate what you are likely to ask based on questions that other people have asked. Simply type a question starting with a word like “is” or “was,” and search engines will start filling in the rest.

People who study online behavior also say the autocomplete feature reveals broader patterns, including indications that the questions people ask of search engines often veer into the sensitive and politically incorrect.

“Your search engine is your best friend, and you talk to it about everything, even things you might not talk about to your real best friends,” said Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, a Web site that covers the search industry. “It’s a way that search engines reflect society.”

One category of question comes up with puzzling frequency in autocomplete: whether a certain person is gay.

Is Elton John gay? Is Paul Ryan gay? Is Michael Bloomberg gay? The question pops up often, too, when starting searches about George Clooney, the Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the actress Ellen Page, Genghis Khan, several cartoon characters and even the pope.

This line of questioning is so commonplace that a simple query on Google beginning with “is” can result in autocomplete predicting that you are about to ask, Is Frank Ocean gay? Do the same with Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, and it often fills out the question, Is Robin Roberts gay? Though these questions do not pop up every time, they do appear with surprising frequency…

[continues the New York Times]



 
Spanish Court: You Do Not Have The Right To Be Forgotten
Monday, 19 March 2012 12:11
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ssurgericDo you have the right to be forgotten? No — the internet has no escape hatch. Via ISP Liability:

A civil court in Spain handed down last Thursday a ruling dismissing plaintiff’s claims against Google Spain over the so called “right to be forgotten”. The case is Alfacs Vacances SL v. (Read more…) Google Spain SL.

While the right to be forgotten is being the subject of heavy litigation in Spain, this is one of few judicial rulings on the matter. Indeed, most claims have been brought before the Spanish Data Protection Authority. About 130 cases are thus pending.

The plaintiff in this case runs a campsite near Tarragona. In 1978, the campsite was hit by a terrible accident with more than 200 people killed and many others severely burned when a tanker truck loaded with flammable liquid got on fire on the highway just in front of the campsite. While the accident happened more than 30 years ago – and the campsite was acquitted of any liability – it still springs out as the first search result when you search for Alfacs on Google, including horrifying thumbnails of burned corpses.