As most readers know, starting in July 2007, I began evaluating GOOGLE AS BAROMETER of American politics, specifically in terms of discovering how interested internet readers and bloggers were in the topic of “Impeach Bush Cheney”.
The first report came out that same month and I simply noted:
At 8a.m. Monday July 23: Google Search Shows 2,000,300 Results under "Impeach Cheney Bush" .
Next, in September 2007, I reported that the interest in this topic [as reflected on a GOOGLE search for these same terms“Impeach Bush Cheney”] had risen according to the GOOGLE BAROMETER.
GOOGLE WATCH: IMPEACH BUSH & CHENEY rises by 110,000 in less than six weeks-September 5, 2007
Naturally, the usage of GOOGLE searches as barometer of popular public interest in a subject is questionable.
On the one hand, users on the web simply copy, link and attach the same article onto several different parts of a website. This reveals a multiplier measurement of interest in a topic and its content as topics are discussed more and more.
Only by perusing all the thousands and millions of websites discussing a topic, such as “Impeach Bush Cheney”, can one get a much more salient picture of politics on the web and peoples interest in a specific topic.
I have noted, however, that the top hits each time [revealed as I have done the search] have been almost universally in support of starting the impeachment process hearings in 2007 for Dick Cheney and George W. Bush.
In other words, the GOOGLE BAROMETER was showing a significant interest on the web over several months for the topic of “Impeach Bush Cheney”. I believe this is a sound interpretation of an otherwise questionable barometer.
GOOGLE SEARCHERS TODAY & THE MULTIPLIER EFFECT
On the other hand, it is also unclear what the cumulative value of any multiplier effect is when on the web (or on any particular search engine) there exists for any single new article or topic on the web. Is it similar to economic multipliers or is much greater or smaller?
In economics, we look at the multiplier effects on the whole economy caused by a transfer or a single investment [or other measured contributions or subtraction from or] on the overall economy.
What is the effect of any particular web article or blog? How is this to be measured?
Currently, it is search engines with their “list of hits” which enables users of the internet to measure growing interest in a subject matter shared on the web or in other areas of media. The problem is that all search engines are using secret and individualized and/or overlapping logarithms to calculate hits and interest in articles, phrases, mnems, and blogs.
Nevertheless, I have today some interesting things to report about how GOOGLE’s logarithm of results has been adding up results over the past 3 months, i.e. as concerns the three terms: “Impeach Bush Cheney”.
First in October 2008, the number of GOOGLE results recorded on a GOOGLE searches with these terms, “Impeach Bush Cheney”, slowly went under 2,000,000.
By mid-November 2008, the result level was several hundred thousand lower.
Suddenly, at the end of the first week of December 2008, I have searched these terms “Impeach Bush Cheney” once again on GOOGLE.
To my amazement, the results are now over 1 million lower than they were only about one or two weeks ago.
At around 8pm tonight my GOOGLE search recorded only 327,000 results for “Impeach Bush Cheney”.
This is a particularly fascinating trend because during this same 3-month period, YAHOO searches have continued to show increases in results revealed under the terms: “Impeach Bush Cheney”.
Over the past few months, the number of results on YAHOO have increased by about 100,000 each month. Today at 8pm my results on YAHOO for these terms have risen to 4,420,000 results.
WHAT IS GOING ON AT GOOGLE?
These results on GOOGLE and YAHOO concerning the topic of “Impeach Bush Cheney” raise some important questions for web users and American political observers from all perspectives:
(1) Is GOOGLE’s search tool now [suddenly as of December 2007] so different from YAHOOs search tool algorithm that YAHOO goes up while GOOGLE’s goes drastically downwards using the same terms?
(2) Has GOOGLE changed its algorithm and why? Has it been a good or reliable/biased change?
(3) Why have GOOGLE’s results changed in an apparent 180 degree direction [as compared to YAHOO’s and to its prior results from summer 2007] on the specific terms of “Impeach Bush Cheney”?
(4) Is there politics involved in this change of direction? Who might have pressured GOOGLE to manipulate the logarithm in any particular way?
(5) With great articles coming out every day demanding the impeachment of Dick Cheney and George W. Bush, how can GOOGLE be undercounting them [and effectively destroying the barometer I was using to measure and share the American pulse of interest in “Impeach Bush Cheney”]?
Would any insiders at GOOGLE or in the web-search engine world please explain what is going on?
NOTES
GOOGLE Search Results from December 8th:
Article from September 5th.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_alone_070905_google_watch_3a_impeac.htm
Article from July 23rd.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_kevin_an_070723_at_8a_m__monday_july.htm
YAHOO Search Results from December 8th:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv8-msgr&p=impeach%20bush%20cheney&type=
