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The issue is that once these thoughts and articles are suggested, they become much more mainstream. Try something less controversial, robbery. No doubt, people
by sam_goody 8y ago
The issue is that once these thoughts and articles are suggested, they become much more mainstream.
Try something less controversial, robbery. No doubt, people search for "how to break into houses", and you might even click on that link if it was a top suggestion. But if people saw that all the time, there would be an increase in robberies, and a decrease in the feeling that it matters.
And just because it generates traffic, doesn't mean it is what most people are really looking for!
It just means that it has appeal because of the way we are wired to respond to things that are outrageous. Once it is a suggestion (even at the end of the list) it will get clicks, and move up till it dominates.
- jstanley 8y ago> Once it is a suggestion (even at the end of the list) it will get clicks, and move up till it dominates. So why isn't every article that has ever been suggested moving up until it dominates?
- sam_goody 8y agoBecause most articles don't trigger the same responses. It is the outrageuos and the radical that trigger the interest. Have you not noticed that the links on the side of all the trash blogs are full of "The craziest snake!" or whatever? Which clickbait works better - "Hitler loved his black maid" or "cheap diapers"? Does that really mean that more people are searching for Hitler's black maid than for cheap diapers?
- jstanley 8y agoSo in your opinion why isn't "Hitler loved his black maid" the top result for every search query?