

Google Should Do This - matt1
http://www.mattmazur.com/?p=12

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Allocator2008
No. This games the system. I could make automtons in HTTPUnit to spawn a bunch
of browser instances, perform a bunch of searches, and vote on a bunch of
search results, which then would aggregate into google's system, giving my
automaton search result hits more weight. So I could make my automatons search
for "John McCain" on N browser instances, then click on some hit-job site
about McCain, which would then "weight" the hit-job site more, so next time a
real user searched "John McCain" she would have a higher probability of
finding the hit-job site than an actual site with the information she needs.
Weighting results on a local instance might be a good thing. Aggregating
people's search result clicks into a global weighting system is not.

Besides, google is nice because of clean, uncomplicated "look and feel".
Cluttering this with vote checkboxes and so on not only allows for "gaming"
the system, it is just plain ugly. An optional plug-in that collates data onto
the local machine of the user is one thing. Anything beyond that is asking for
trouble.

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matt1
PageRank can be maniuplated too, but it doesnt mean that its a bad way to
determine the search results. It means that you need to have extra layers of
security to prevent and detect fraud. Another example would be automating
clicks on a competitor's paid search results, to drive up their advertising
costs. Some people have malicious intent, but just because it's possible
doesn't mean the idea is flawed.

But yeah, I'm not in favor of extra clutter on Google's search results which
is why I'm advocating for the automatic, behind the scenes adjustments.

