“Don’t be evil”: Uncovering the implications of Google search

Abstract

Google has taken the world by storm, and with its fast and seemingly accurate search results, internet users are increasingly using this search engine to obtain the majority of their information. This paper studies the implications of internet users' increasing reliance on Google for retrieving information. It specifically examines Google search because it is the world's most prominent search engine, and studies the potential flaws in its algorithm, such as search engine bias and the rich-gets-richer phenomenon, as well as issues in the overall website retrieval process. It concludes that due to the sheer number of users relying on the first page of Google results for information, the seemingly indiscernible flaws in the system have a significant effect on the formation of knowledge.