First the background on “Don’t be evil” as reported by Wikipedia:
In their 2004 founders’ letter prior to their initial public offering, Lawrence E. Page and Sergey Brin explained that their “Don’t be evil” culture prohibited conflicts of interest, and required objectivity and an absence of bias:
Google users trust our systems to help them with important decisions: medical, financial and many others. Our search results are the best we know how to produce. They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating. We also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly. This is similar to a well-run newspaper, where the advertisements are clear and the articles are not influenced by the advertisers’ payments. We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see.
And now this surprising screen cap I’ve been sitting on for awhile. While WUWT was the top result, the user is given the option to block WUWT results forever in Google Chrome:
That screencap is from April 22nd, 2011.
ADDED: Some folks suggest it was solely the use of the “f word” in search that triggered it. If so, why is there no block option for Lucia’s the Blackboard?
I ask readers to try getting that message to pop up searching for specific titles on Real Climate or Climate Progress and other pro AGW sites. I tried and could not back then, though it is possible the algorithm has changed in the month since I tried. I’ve also noted that once you ignore the “block all results” option, it does not appear again (for that website).
Your experience may vary, I’m only reporting mine and it appears that once you have a look at the content you get the offer to block, the option goes away. So I can’t repeat it without doing a reinstall and registry cleanse.
[ADDED: Reader Jeremy was able to get the same result with RealClimate, see here so it is good to see that it is not specific to WUWT, though that still leaves the graph below]
What prompted me to publish this screencap today? I needed confirmation that something was afoot.
Steve Milloy of Junkscience.com dropped me an email about his article Climate cleansing: Google to censor skeptics? where he quotes this from the Yale Climate Change Forum:
——————————————————–
The Yale Forum on Climate Change reports that,
… Google leads people to accurate information about climate change. Fifty-two percent of the 980 sites [returned by a Google search on climate change-related terms] contained clear statements in line with the vast majority of peer-reviewed climate science evidence. For example, if you had searched for “climate change myths” in early May, you would have found this Environmental Defense Fund site, which says, “The most respected scientific bodies have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and people are causing it.”
And Google may be willing to fix this problem for the alarmists. The Yale Forum goes on to state:
Meanwhile, can search engines do a better job of pointing the public toward credible sites?
A Google spokeswoman, who insisted on anonymity because she is not a Google executive, said the company is always looking for ways to improve results. “Last year, we made 500 changes to the algorithm to improve search quality,” she said.
————————————————————————————-
So, it appears if you can’t beat them, censor them. I hope I’m wrong about that, but this graph below suggests that my traffic has been impacted by changes in search engine algorithms, Google of course being the lions share.
Here’s my Alexa search driven hits to WUWT, note the step change in mid 2010, perhaps one of those “500 changes to the algorithm to improve search quality” was implemented then:
Source: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/wattsupwiththat.com#
ADDED: Some commenters suggest “lack of interest” in climate issues as the reason for the sharp drop, compare the number of search related visits at RealClimate.org then:
The blocking option might be a one shot deal, but the step change and continued lower results (for WUWT search hits) concern me. I had a large traffic spike in December 2010, related to the COP16 climate conference worldwide interest, but no corresponding large uptick in search hits.
UPDATE: Harold Ambler points out in comments his story about what happened when ClimateGate broke, and Google’s search lagged well behind Bing at the time:
http://talkingabouttheweather.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/google-gate/
On my version of Chrome there’s a site rating icon just to the right of the address bar. For WUWT it’s greyed out because of “too few votes”. Surprised me. Over to you guys…..
I do not use Google for anything anymore. Personal boycott.
You guys can help by checking out google labs and using +1 searching
Boycott Google permanently.
Using startpage.com for over a year now. Boycotting YouTube as much as possible too. Don’t do business with evil. Bing = Microsloth + evil.
I recommend these guys:
vimeo.com
blip.tv
naturalnews.tv
prisonplanet.tv
AS of 7:05 pm EDT I obtained a text “copy” of the following
when I enter “WUWT” in the Google search box:
You’ll note the “show more results” and the “show all results”
utilities essentially hide just how many
available varied topics and entries the searcher might see at
first glance.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
I’m running an HP Pavilion with Windows XP2,
with “NoFlash” engaged, popup blockers on high,
and an old utility I’ve migrated from computer to
computer called Naviscope as an ad/site/ad key
word blocker. I use Zone Alarm (free) and the
internal Windows firewalls.
I have http://wattsupwiththat.com/ listed as one
of my “Trusted sites” under the security section of
the “Internet Properties” as part of my Internet
Explorer settings.
I’ll try using “Watts Up With That” as a search string
next on Google.
At 7:50 PM EDT, using the string:
Watts Up With That
got tons of links to, and about WUWT.
Ixquick.
Bing is better.
Set it to your default search engine for 1 week. At the end of 1 week I am certain that you will switch like I have and many others have too.
Cheers!
Have you considered talking to Google and asking them what is going on?
Let me speculate wildly (which seems to be the fashion right now).
Much of the content on WUWT also appears elsewhere. You reprint essays from other sites and many sites reprint original material from WUWT. It is possible that you look, to the Google Robot, like a content scraper. That would certainly push down search rankings.
Of course, it may be nothing of the sort. It may easily be that Google are favouring “right-thinking” sites like Real Climate. But I think that a discussion with Google would be a good starting point. If they’re being evil, it won’t help — but it probably won’t hurt. If it is just a mistake, they will quite possibly fix it.
That’s my $0.02 worth.
Using Google Search on say “TARDIS” clicking a link and returning to the search results allows you to eliminate the particular domain from your search results as well.
When logged in at the bottom of the search results preference page there’s a section on blocked sites, with a Manage Blocked Sites link, where you can remove one or more of the up to 500 sites in the blocked sites list or add links to be blocked manually.
You have the ability to censor your own search results, in general usable to qualify results to remove ‘noise’. The danger inherent there is in not being remembering that you blocked a site and later count on not finding it as presenting some authoritative result.
“Sites will be blocked only for you, but Google may use everyone’s blocking information to improve the ranking of search results overall.”
It would seem to block groups sharing common interests not held by Google Search users at large there should be a tool to alter the gestalt view of the blocking filter by voting things up. There may be an expectation that users of Google Chrome subscribe to the Don’t Be Evil mind set and aren’t expected to act capriciously.
That might not be a valid view when one considers organized efforts to delete emails from public records.
Ditto what Mosher said.
Google is personalized, and so it shows us what we want to see.
After the positive reinforcement, it suggests purchases taylored to our desires.
Test of: Willis Eisenbach (no quotes) on Bing.com 110520_21:53 CDT
Through an ISP from Tabasco, Mexico
1. minx.cc/?post-295147 (huh? This one is first here, too?)
2. ace.mu.nu/archives again the “nitpicky demands”
3. roniteisenbach com
4. sweetness-light com
5. climateaudit org 2009 12 09
6. bishophill.squarespace com 2011/2/26
7. bishophill.squarespace com 2011/3/23/
8. www blueoregon om 2010/10
……“go to http://www.wattsupwiththat.com for fun if you have the guts.”
9. algorelied com p=3294
First WUWT:
10. wattsupwiththat.com/2010/03/31/18010 “Trust and Mistrust”
…. Again: how ironic?
(Note, I did this same search with Google.com.mx 30 min before.
First WUWT was #19. List should be posted above, but has not yet appeared.
Just tried “f-word fusillade” on Google and the first suggested string was … “f-word fusillade.” WUWT’s “Friday Funny” post was the first hit. No suggestions for blocking. I use Firefox 4.0.1.
Apparently the results are indeterminate at this time.
Google.com.mx search: Willis Eisenbach
From a hotel in Tabasco, Mexico 110520_21:10 CDT
1. minx.cc/?post=295147
2. ibloga blogspot com 26 Nov 2009
…..(#1 and #2 same snipit: “the guy making all this trouble with his nitpicky demands to see data and methodology (as he is legally entitled to…”)
3. climateaudit org /peter-brown… 18 oct 2008
4. dailybayont com 27 Nov 2009
5. www guardian co uk /extinction 7 Mar 2010
6. sweetes-light com 3 Mar 2010
7. http://www.mitosyfraudes org enero 1 ,2010
8. algorelied com 27 Nov 2009
9. ilovecarbondioxide com 2009
10 http://www.domotica us 16 Jun 2008
11 bishophill.squarespace com 26 feb 2011
12 tech.groups.yahoo.co/group/climatechangedebate/ 29 Ene, 2008
…
17 http://www.blueoregon com 12 Oct 2010. “Go to wattsupwiththat.com and read…”
First WUWT reference:
19. whatsupwiththat.com 2 Dec 2010 “Testing… Testing…” [how ironic!]
Wow. I would not have believed it if I did not see it for myself.
Search pages and screen capture saved.
Why am I thinking of the word “unperson” now?
So the good news is even without honest search results you are getting millions of hits a day. You are not the first and won’t be the last as the politicization of search get fined tuned. It will happen to other search engines as well once they become more popular.
Bill Clinton now wants a Ministry of Truth for the internet. Sound familiar? Only approved stuff will be found by searches is my guess as to how they will implement it.
The way around it is to use other alternative media to spread the site directly to others. Stuff like Facebook, Twitter etc. Good old bumper stickers and T-shirts are not bad either. You will need to be creative at getting the site’s name into the public mind.
Bing.com Anthony Watts
110520_23:14 CDT
1. www likedin com /pub Victory Painting LLC
2. au linkedin om Sydney Area
3. linkedin com /pub YSL New York City
4. www facebook com Join Facebook….
5. uk linkedin com /pub
6. www myspace com killin’ em’ with kindness since 1985
7. wattsupwiththat.com Former meteorologist ….
8. www mitosyfraudes org Marzo 20, 2009 WUWT. Maldivas
9 en wikipedia org /wiki /surfacestations
10. ibstudios memso net Steampunk Girl…
11 wattsupwiththat com same as #8
12 en-gb facebook com kyle m watts
13 (a repeat of #8)
14 (a repeat of #9)
15 (a repeat of #10)
16. www desdeelexilio com 2010 01 27 temperature global
17. www neuroscience ox ac uk “Membrane neuroreceptors”
18. en Wikipedia org disambiguation
19. www2 bioch ox ac uk Professor
20. www zoominfo com people Watts_Anthony…..3905
[Bing does not impress me as an alternative to Google]
Have used startpage.com for a while now which is a compilation search engine using all the others so is marginally slower, but I can’t read much in a few milliseconds :p
Search for ‘climate friday funnies’ gave WUWT as first four entries.
It also does not register IP address.
Google censorship is rampant as far as I am concerned.
Google “global cooling” and you get 3,230,000 hits.
Bing “global cooling” and you get 15,600,000 hits, about 400% more hits.
Lots of Google-sifting going on!
google themselves being the biggest “content farm” in the universe!
some months ago, google took away the “search within results” feature, which was the only good reason to use them in the first place. despite the anger of researchers in particular, who were using that feature to good effect, google claimed it wasn’t actually a feature that functioned the way everyone using it knew it to be functioning, but in some entirely unreal way that made it an unnecessary and dispensible feature.
no-one on the forums i visited believed them.
Evil.
Deadman says: May 20, 2011 at 9:50 am
It surely can‘t be a matter of naughty words. If I type “Grattan disdain” in a Google-search, a post by me (wherein I describe her using the c-word—and I don’t mean cancer) appears, on my computer, at the top of the page.
True, Michelle Grattan was totally incorrect on a number of other occasions, difficult to see it at the time as journalistic licence.
I see you have escaped censure with other naughty words also.
http://deadmanturner.wordpress.com/about/
In fact I am surprised that you state you live in Tasmania (Australia).
Brave statement. But then having quolls as parents probably saves you.
All Right All Right ‘Ants’ piece was hilarious. Thanks for that.
bikermailman says:
May 20, 2011 at 10:38 am
I quit using google long ago, when it broke that they were going along with China’s censorship campaign…
Same here.
I retract the post on May 20, 2011 8:16pm. I misspelled “Eschenbach”
Google.com.mx Willis Eschenbach
110521_0253 CDT
1. scienceblogs com 9 Dec 2009 “W. E. caught lying…”
2. www youtube com Part 1 Negative feedback
3. wmbriggs com blog p-2197 answers to 14 + 2
4. climatewft blogspot com 28 Feb 2010 “gets mad” at J Curry”
5. pipl com directory
6. wattsupwiththat com Between Wind and Water
7. camirror wordpress com 25 Nov 2009 FOI Request
8. lanuevaedaddehielo blogspot com 10 Mar 2011
9. www realclimate org 20 Jan 2005
10. omniclimate wordpress com 24 Nov 2009
11 www youtube com Part 1 Negative feedback
12. www oarval org Termostato Junio 14 2009
13 www exxonsecrets org personfactsheet id=1320
14 www 123people com
15 climateaudit org 23 Nov 2008 Can’t see the Signal (Author: W. E.)
16. www anenglishmanscastle com 8 Dec 2009 Cen England Temps
17. www thegwpf org 14 May 2011 Black box of Choc
18. wattsupwiththat com 2009 12 8 Darwin Zero
19. www skepticalscience com 30 Oct 2010 Comparing IPCC and peer-reviewed…
Another good reason for NOT using Google Chrome
Another search engine is .
It’s claim to fame is not tracking and recording your IP address, and selling them to advertisers etc. For more than the default 10 search results, change the settings in the Advanced settings webpage.
Stephen Rasey says: May 21, 2011 at 1:12 am
No need, we knew that and self-corrected. As hopefully Willis did!