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How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet - WIRED (www.wired.com)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from [email protected]

Google may be altering billions of search queries daily to generate results that increase purchases.

Testimony in an antitrust case revealed an internal Google slide about changes to its search algorithm, involving "semantic matching" to generate more commercial results.

Google covertly changes user queries, substituting them with ones that generate more revenue for the company and display shopping-oriented results.

This manipulation benefits Google's profits but harms search quality and raises advertiser costs.

Despite legal challenges, Google's market dominance allows it to continue these practices, impacting users' ability to access unbiased information.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

It will get worse when Google replaces its old engine with an AI powered one. Because nobody knows what the AI does at that point, as it is not a simple search term search the web anymore, but explicitly opinionated results.