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This is an awful result, but it raises a difficult question: should the SERP be moderated or they should be fully automatic and allow this kind of results to be

• empath75 10y ago
  It seems like the alt right network of sites that are gaming the results should be pretty easily discoverable and their weighting adjusted downwards until legitimate sites are at the top.
  • landryraccoon 10y ago
    This is putting the cart ahead of the horse. What's needed is a standard by which you can say "alt right is fake" while "CNN (or insert other site that fits your world view) is real".
    • snadal 10y ago
      In fact, there are very few subjects where reality is a matter of fact and there is an absolute truth. Even knowing this specific case is very clear to all of us, cherry picking which side is true and which one is false on ideological matters can be tricky. The line between truth and censorship is very thin. Why don't just all of us learn to put everything in doubt? We've passed from "this is true because it's written on a book" to "this is truth because some jerk wrote it on Facebook"
      • jayajay 10y ago
        This. There's a point even in academic fields where you find a particular community divided by subjectivity (strings vs. quantum gravity). I think the scientific attitude of "remaining skeptical" has served us pretty well in the past. But when it comes to emotional stuff, people just have a really hard time.
        • fjdlwlv 10y ago
          You need to distinguish "remaining skeptical" from bring "willfully ignorant". You should be skeptical of people who questions widely agreed historical facts as well.
          • jayajay 10y ago
            You're right. Another thing that scares me is how we interpret history based on who wins. We've all heard the true saying "the winners write the history books". We all might have been saying things like "it's a good thing we killed all of those fucking jews, it definitely saved humanity from being tainted" without anyone flinching. This is the kind of stuff you still hear in neo-nazi circles. But imagine -- if we all thought that. It sure is poetic how little of a choice we have in our opinions and world views, yet how passionate we are about them. Most people reading this right now would never think themselves capable of thinking such a thing. If things turned out differently, the accepted world-view might be that certain lineages are tainted and that they reduce the pureness of people -- it may have been punishable to even dispute this. Anyways, perspective.
  • cptskippy 10y ago
    That's the misunderstanding pervading this article. There is no gaming of the system. The article provided absolutely no evidence that any gaming was occurring. Algorithms like PageRank are indiscriminate and if the Atl-right network of sites is as big as the author claims then it should be pretty obvious why those results appear. Right or wrong, good or bad, there isn't any foul play or exploitation occurring. These sites are playing by the rules Google established. I think the problem is that groups that would challenge the Atl-right could do so using their own network of sites but instead want to just change the rules to shut them down instead.
    • empath75 10y ago
      Holocaust denial itself is foul play. You seem to think the only thing wrong that could be happening here is cheating the algorithm.
      • cptskippy 10y ago
        What is your definition of wrong? Is it crazy tin foil hat shit that could cause potential civil unrest or other problems? Then yes it's wrong. Is it violating the rules of law or the rules of Google? No. The thing that's really disturbing is that rather than combat this problem on a level playing field, people are proposing changing the rules because they can't be bothered to play the game the way the rules are setup. Once we have a system in place where we can shut down any disagreeable idea, who decides when and how to use it?
• rokhayakebe 10y ago
  IMO, what must be addressed is our and our children ability to discern, analyse and put in doubt everything that we read, and this kind of results does more good than bad on this sense. Correct and it is our job as a parent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt etc... to teach critical thinking to the younger generation.