[Problematic at best] Google Will Prioritize Stories for Paying News Subscribers
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/google-is-said-to-prioritize-stories-for-paying-news-subscribers Google users who subscribe to newspapers will find articles from those publications appearing higher in their search results, part of the tech giant's efforts to help media companies find and retain paying readers, according to people familiar with the matter. The Alphabet unit will also begin sharing search data that show who's most likely to buy a subscription, said the people, who asked to be anonymous because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. Google executives plan to disclose specific details at an event in New York on March 20, according to the people. Google declined to comment. - - - This really just qualifies as a rumor at this point, but IF true as described, it could have two problematic aspects: 1) Pushing subscriptions higher in organic search results could contribute to the existing filter bubble problem -- making it even more likely that users would tend to read materials that already agree with their views, rather than the "legitimately" organic best results. 2) The idea of providing publishers with information to "target" potential subscribers -- just based on what this article says -- sounds creepy as hell. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): https://www.vortex.com/lauren Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com Google Issues Mailing List: https://vortex.com/google-issues Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: https://www.pfir.org/pfir-info Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Google+: https://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list https://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad
