[Sigia-l] Google Needs People

[Tim Salam]

Jan C. Wright said:
> And actually, I wasn't finding the news I wanted to see in any of their
> categories... so, um, what does that say?

On their "about" page, Google reiterates many times a request for feedback,
especially from those with results like you found.  They want a lot of
feedback so they can refine the system.

> Maybe I only look for news of the weird, but actually, I was looking for
> Iraq stuff... World or US news
> didn't have it sitting on top, so obviously the algorithm isn't
> making new
> categories on the fly reflecting current themes?

Quote from http://news.google.com/help/about_news_search.html:
"The headlines... [are] based on many factors including how often and on
what sites a story appears elsewhere on the web. This is very much in the
tradition of Google's web search, which relies heavily on the collective
judgment of web publishers to determine which sites offer the most valuable
and relevant information. Google News relies in a similar fashion on the
editorial judgment of online news organizations to determine which stories
are most deserving of inclusion and prominence on the Google News page."

A few points:

1. Most are already familiar with the fact that (for Americans at least) the
media message is controlled by very few sources.  A "trickle-down" effect
from top providers to regional, area and local news outlets is pervasive in
reiterating what the top provider is reporting.

2. News on what is going on with Iraq is more relevant to Americans than
most other countries, being that we are on the cusp of war with them.

With these points in consideration, perhaps Google's "aggregation service"
(if you will) is more refelective of what the world media is reporting on to
the world audience, rather than what we (Americans) are used to leading the
news sources we often monitor.  I judge this based on a) my experience being
born and growing up in Europe, then moving to the U.S. and b) on more
*"world balanced" publications such as The Economist.

In short, you may have not found much on Iraq since Google News may not be
generating results only for Americans, and you may be surprised that you
found little to nothing on Iraq because we're used to being inundated by
topics selected by America's primary news providers.



*As for just how "world balanced" The Economist really is, I have my doubts
since I all too often see distinctly "American current themes" gracing the
cover.

Tim Salam
Vice President
Essemble IT Solutions
http://www.essemble.com
+1 602-246-0499 voice
+1 480-332-5521 cell
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