5.09 Impacts of CS: Web Searches

5.9 Impacts of CS: Web Searches Curriculum Page

Chapter 4 - Read the following parts of Chapter 4:

• Found After Seventy Years, pg. 109-110
• It Matters How It Works, pg. 120-138
• Search is Power, pg. 145-151 (up to the heading Search Engines Don't See Everything)

Activity

Before the reading consider the following questions and then complete the K-W-L chart.

• What do you notice about your own internet searches?
• What search engines have you tried?
• Does Google predict your searches?
• If you use another search engine besides Google, do you get the same results?
• Which search engine is “right”? Which is “better”?

Reading Questions

1. How do web search tools make it more efficient to find information?

• Web search tools make it extremely efficient to find lots of information in a short amount of time. By using search tools, users are able to find much more information in a short period of time online compared to the user of paper resources.

2. When you type a word or phrase into the Google search engine, what is the search algorithm that is being used? Explain in your own words the process used by Google's search engine.

• The search algorithm that Google uses when the user types a word or phrase into the search engine is Google's ranking algorithm which uses the user's search query (which is keywords) and compares it to the websites in its index. It compares the two by using relevancy to determine which sites should be shown in what order. To do this, Google examines the number of times the keywords are mentioned in the page, how many of the keywords are mentioned, where they are mentioned, and the context of the source.

3. What is a captcha? How has the collective efforts of Internet users contributed to analyzing images through captchas?

• Captcha, a "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computes and Humans apart," is used to tell if the user is a bot (computer) or a human by displaying pictures of words, objects, etc that ask questions and are answered to prove the user is a real human. Spammer try to counter these captchas by using volunteers that decipher the captchas so a bot can then get access.

4. "The architecture of human knowledge has changed as a result of search." Do you agree? Explain your reasoning.

• "The architecture of human knowledge has changed as a result of search" is an accurate statement because the power of search has resulted in a highly efficient way to gain knowledge in a very short amount of time. It also had enabled us to easily be able to complete tasks that we otherwise wouldn't know how to do (ie. directions). However, it has also led to large dependence, I'd say too large, on search which disregards the purpose of actually learning about certain subjects/items. For example, many people have to "look up" things that used to be common knowledge.

5. What are the differences between Figures 4.10 and Figure 4.11 in the book? Why are there differences even though they are both a Google search results page?

• The differences between figures 4.10 and 4.11 in the book is that figure 4.10 displays the results for a search on Google done in the US on falun gong. The websites that are ranked the highest are aimed more towards giving users an understanding on what falun gong is. Figure 4.11 displays the results for a search on Google done in China. The websites in this image aim more towards condemning falun gong because of China's restrictions. There are differences between these two searches because of the political restrictions and applied censoring depending on the country.

6. How do you think mobile computing might have influenced web searches?

• Mobile computing influenced web searches by affecting the type of information that is displayed on the mobile devices. I think this includes more searches aimed towards restaurants and shopping. However, I also think mobile computing has also led to a heightened number of searches towards directions. In addition, mobile computing has brought in a need for faster answers to questions. People usually use their phone to search something if they need a fast answer or information based on something their about to do (ie. directions).

7. Would you retain your search history or delete it? Why?

• I would retain my search history because it is extremely helpful if the computer already knows frequently visited websites, so I have faster access to them.

8. Should a researcher place absolute trust in a search engine? Why or why not?

• A researcher should not place absolute trust in a search engine because search engines only use algorithms to display the relevant websites after a search. The websites that search engines generate for users can still have bias, wrong information, or outdated information. In addition, search engines don't have every website indexed, so important information on websites that aren't indexed won't be available to the user. This can also be seen by the fact that different search engines display different results for the same questions.

9. The authors claim "search is a new form of control over information" (p. 111) and "search is power" (p. 145). Why might it be important to talk about the social implications of searching on the Internet?

• It is important to talk about the social implications of searching on the Internet because due to the easily obtained information on the web, the government has become involved by creating regulations and safety procedures. People could accidentally be looked at for their searches online, when in fact they are innocent. In addition, the widespread availability has led the public's opinion to be easily swayed by content read on the web.

10. How have search trends been used to predict information? What are the positive and negative impacts of using trends to make predictions?

• Search trends have been used to predict information by looking at users' personal and overall search history. Search engines then use this information to determine what is displayed on the results page and in what order. The positive impact of this is that the most popular and credible sites that users frequently visit will be at the top of the list which makes the searching process faster. The negative impact is that it makes assumptions about what people want to see and it could leave out sites that someone would have wanted to see.

11. Find and read an article about web searches or algorithms. Write a 3-4 paragraph summary of the article. Include the author's name, the title of the article, the date it was published, and a link to the article.

The article "You'll Shudder When You See What Google Knows About Your Web Searches," by Graham Cluley on May 13, 2015, explains the capabilities of Google to track every users' browsing history in order to alert users to take precautions if they don't want their history to be shared. It expands on the idea by explaining the dangers of keeping this information on someone's personal computer and some dangerous activities that could result from someone finding the information. It goes on to instruct users how to delete the history off their computer and disable history tracking in their online settings.

The article initially explains just how much information can be discovered by Google based on someone's web searches. This information includes what's on someone's mind, what they are planning on doing, and who they are planning on doing it with. The article continues by explaining that this information on someone's history is extremely valuable which is why so many hackers are after it. If someone were to obtain the user's information they would have pages and pages of materials about the user's thoughts and actions.

The article finishes by explaining the importance for users to be aware of this because of all the potential threats to their personal history. It then explains the steps for how to delete one's search history and disable Google's data sucking features. It also lists alternatives to taking such a strong act against data saving like refraining from signing in to one's google account when they start searches and changing the privacy settings on one's account.

https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/google-search-archive/