News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Google Memory Loss by stcredzero on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @01:56PM (#16161012)
I think the biggest irony is that the web allows for more adoption of long-tail movements than ever before, and Google has gotten significantly worse at turning these up. I assume this has something to do with the fact that information from the long tail is substantially less searched for than stuff within the normal bounds.

Google wants you to be mainstream now. If everyone thinks the same and wants the same things -- even if contextually as a member of one of a couple of hundred disparate "marketing cohort" categories -- it will be far easier to target advertising to you. It's in Google's interest for you to conform now. Be easy to categorize. Be easy to predict. So think the same as the members of your peer group, so they can sell hyper-targeted advertising to other corporations. (Have you noticed that social media tends to motivate you to conform?) Google has no use for the long tail anymore -- no use for quirky and inscrutable scenes and subcultures. Instead, it now has the cultural power to transform you (the product) into an even better product.

Remember: 1. If you're not paying for the service, you are not the customer. You are the product. 2. Given sufficient quantity and concentration, Power corrupts. Always.

Re:Google Memory Loss by callalex on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @04:36PM (#16162897)
I see quite the opposite inceintive for Google. If you are a very eccentric individual and they know those quirks, they have a huge competitive advantage in targeting ads to you vs. some bulk radio broadcast ad etc.
Re:Google Memory Loss by stcredzero on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @05:06PM (#16163171)
I see quite the opposite incentive for Google. If you are a very eccentric individual and they know those quirks, they have a huge competitive advantage in targeting ads to you vs. some bulk radio broadcast ad etc.

However, the observation of this article, and my observation as well, is that Google isn't currently capable of parsing very individual quirks. Rather, Google is able to place you into one of a number of highly conformist boxes. They don't have to understand you as an individual. They just have to 'box' you more effectively than their competitors.

There is nothing in the market or otherwise emergent in the nature of data and such categorization which fundamentally motivates Google to be able to parse anyone's quirks or understand the essence of a scene or artistic movement. If Google can gain a competitive advantage by creating a number of honeytrap doppelgangers which draw people away from the long tail and sequester them into un-creative, imitative, and highly conformist boxes, then so much the better for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9OHn5ZF4Uo

http://lesswrong.com/lw/l8/conjuring_an_evolution_to_serve_y...

In much the same way, I find that recommendation engines come up with annoying pale imitations of bands/musicians I like. I also wonder why authoritarianism seems to spread so effectively across social media, and why certain authoritarian movements seem to get such ready support from within Google and various social media companies. It's because, as a product, conformist/authoritarian screechers are more easily herded, replicated, categorized, and packaged than real individuals who think for themselves and apply principles.

Re:Google Memory Loss by senderista on Friday January 19, 2018 @06:31PM (#16190925)
If you liked Radiohead, you must also like Coldplay!