Search engines are still the most important entry point to the Internet. However, very few users can handle them. This is the result of a study by the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (JGU). When searching for information, German users, over 90 percent of whom use the Google search function, are strongly guided by search engines, for example by the automatic completion of search terms. Because only a few users can evaluate the results differentiated and critically, the responsibility for balanced and diverse sources of information should also lie with the search engines. The study therefore calls for media policy to regulate search engines more strongly and develops three key guidelines for this: neutrality, transparency and competence.
Publications:
Die Googleisierung der Informationssuche
Project staff:
Prof. Dr. Birgit Stark
Dr. Pascal Jürgens
Cooperation partners:
Prof. Dr. Melanie Magin
Prof. Dr. Dieter Dörr
Prof. Dr. Stefan Aufenanger
Ref. iur. Simon Schuster
Funding:
research program media convergence