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The Search Query Filter Bubble : Effect of User Ideology on Political Leaning of Search Results Through Query Selection

Ekström, A. G. ; Madison, G. ; Olsson, E. J. LU and Tsapos, M. LU (2023) In Information Communication and Society
Abstract
It is commonly assumed that personalization technologies used by Google for the purpose of tailoring search results for individual users create filter bubbles, which reinforce users’ political views. Surprisingly, empirical evidence for a personalization-induced filter bubble has not been forthcoming. Here, we investigate whether filter bubbles may result instead from a searcher’s choice of search queries. In the first experiment, participants rated the left-right leaning of 48 queries (search strings), 6 for each of 8 topics (abortion, benefits, climate change, sex equality, immigration, nuclear family, Islam, and taxation). An independent sample of participants were then asked to select one of these queries for each of the 8 topics. With... (More)
It is commonly assumed that personalization technologies used by Google for the purpose of tailoring search results for individual users create filter bubbles, which reinforce users’ political views. Surprisingly, empirical evidence for a personalization-induced filter bubble has not been forthcoming. Here, we investigate whether filter bubbles may result instead from a searcher’s choice of search queries. In the first experiment, participants rated the left-right leaning of 48 queries (search strings), 6 for each of 8 topics (abortion, benefits, climate change, sex equality, immigration, nuclear family, Islam, and taxation). An independent sample of participants were then asked to select one of these queries for each of the 8 topics. With the exception of the topic of Islam, participants were significantly more likely to select a query corresponding to their own political leaning, compared to other queries, explaining between 12% and 39% of the variance. A second experiment investigated the effect of the political leaning of the same queries on the overall political leaning of Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) in Google Search. The top six results of each SERP were rated collectively by a third group of participants, explaining 36.3% of the variance across all 48 search terms (p (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Filter bubble, online search, search query, political leaning, ideology, Google
in
Information Communication and Society
pages
17 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85164525870
ISSN
1369-118X
DOI
10.1080/1369118X.2023.2230242
project
Filterbubblor och ideologisk segregering online: behövs reglering av sökmaskiner?
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
da97af0e-10ca-4ca1-96ea-d34141067f1f
date added to LUP
2023-06-05 09:05:05
date last changed
2023-09-25 14:55:57
@article{da97af0e-10ca-4ca1-96ea-d34141067f1f,
  abstract     = {{It is commonly assumed that personalization technologies used by Google for the purpose of tailoring search results for individual users create filter bubbles, which reinforce users’ political views. Surprisingly, empirical evidence for a personalization-induced filter bubble has not been forthcoming. Here, we investigate whether filter bubbles may result instead from a searcher’s choice of search queries. In the first experiment, participants rated the left-right leaning of 48 queries (search strings), 6 for each of 8 topics (abortion, benefits, climate change, sex equality, immigration, nuclear family, Islam, and taxation). An independent sample of participants were then asked to select one of these queries for each of the 8 topics. With the exception of the topic of Islam, participants were significantly more likely to select a query corresponding to their own political leaning, compared to other queries, explaining between 12% and 39% of the variance. A second experiment investigated the effect of the political leaning of the same queries on the overall political leaning of Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) in Google Search. The top six results of each SERP were rated collectively by a third group of participants, explaining 36.3% of the variance across all 48 search terms (p}},
  author       = {{Ekström, A. G. and Madison, G. and Olsson, E. J. and Tsapos, M.}},
  issn         = {{1369-118X}},
  keywords     = {{Filter bubble; online search; search query; political leaning; ideology; Google}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Information Communication and Society}},
  title        = {{The Search Query Filter Bubble : Effect of User Ideology on Political Leaning of Search Results Through Query Selection}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2230242}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/1369118X.2023.2230242}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}