Try Good Gopher Instead, A Propaganda-Free Search Portal

Ethan A. Huff – Using Google as your primary online search engine could be subjecting you to brainwashing and propaganda, as the advertising and information giant actively filters search results to push its own agenda. A prominent psychologist has warned that Google’s “filter bubble” censors certain information from view, promoting confirmation bias and ultimately ignorance of what’s really going on in the world.

Michael Carr-Gregg says the effect of Google’s proprietary web-crawling algorithms and tailored search results narrows people’s understanding of the world, skewing public perception towards what Google thinks is important for them to know. He warns that real world events often fly under the radar in favor of junk-food news like celebrity gossip and reality television, for instance.

Australia’s News.com.au reports that Google’s filter bubble also tailors search results based on earlier search queries, preventing users from pulling up other pertinent information that might not fit into their normal routine of searching habits. Over time, such a system isolates users not only from content that deviates from what they normally encounter, but also from others who think and believe differently from themselves. Continue reading →