Monday, October 26, 2015

Today, a whole host of hidden entities are jockeying for your attention and working overtime to control what you view when searching the open web. Although most of us have come to accept Google's Page Rank and its other page signal analyses as a legitimate way to rank results, today's searchers are being manipulated in new and powerful ways. Among the most influential of these behind-the-scene forces are the sometimes shady practices of SEO optimizers, creators of clickbait headlines, self-promoters who focus only on building followers, and sponsored content masquerading as independent and unbi- ased reports. All impact the results of your search. And Google too has influence in ways you may not realize, as it applies lesser-known but potent algorithms that prioritize local, past search histories, and other personalized factors that influence what you do and do not see. This talk identifies and describes these hidden forces and provides strategies on how to take back control of your open web searching.