A publicly-accessible search engine is an inherently political endeavor. It determines, to a great extent, what web pages people will read as a function of thei

A publicly-accessible search engine is an inherently political endeavor. It determines, to a great extent, what web pages people will read as a function of their expressed interests; and indirectly, heavily influences not just people's views but their sense of reality, of what's physically and conceptually out there. Having said that - what the article describes does seem like a transition step from more back-room dealings by Google and its lobbyists to trying to create astro-turf public campaigns. Sigh.