TRAAP

Teaching Resources

Algorithms tell the search engine what to show you. They look at:

What they know about you. Search engines will personalize your results based on things like your location and your past search history.
The number of times search keywords and phrases appear on the page and their location on the page (e.g., is the search term in the headline?)
The number of times other websites link to the webpage
The authority or importance of those websites that link to that page (the website of a government agency gets more weight than a personal blog)
The number of links, shares, and social media mentions that the webpage has
The amount of time the webpage has been up

Tips for Effective Search from KQED Teach

Now, keeping algorithms and personalization in mind, here are some tips for searching and selecting search results.

Be specific: use keywords and quotation marks to get at what you want to know.
Pay attention to the search engine suggestions (called autocomplete) and use any that look helpful.
Be aware of ads or “sponsored” websites in the search results. Companies pay to get these top spots! They may not be relevant to your search.
Read the short description text for each result and the source's URL. This will help you identify familiar or relevant sources and the type of website it is (.gov, .edu).
Pay attention to the sources you select. Do you select resources that challenge or confirm your existing perspective/hypothesis?

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