Algorithms of Oppression by
A revealing look at how negative biases against women of color are embedded in search engine results and algorithms Run a Google search for "black girls"--what will you find? "Big Booty" and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But, if you type in "white girls," the results are radically different. The suggested porn sites and un-moderated discussions about "why black women are so sassy" or "why black women are so angry" presents a disturbing portrait of black womanhood in modern society. In Algorithms of Oppression, Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for all forms of ideas, identities, and activities. Data discrimination is a real social problem; Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting certain sites, along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search engines, leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate against people of color, specifically women of color. Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance--operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond--understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance. An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.
In a nutshell, Google works by identifying text within webpages that match your search terms. While, in practice, the Google search algorithm is extremely complex. All the factors that go into Google's Page Rank are a closely guarded secret, and the algorithm is updated up to 6 times a day, but some of the major factors that are considered when matching search results with your search include: how recently the content was updated, how many times your keywords appear on the page, how many other sites link to a page, how "user friendly" the page is (i.e. how fast it loads, how mobile friendly it is).
1. Limit your search to trusted domains, such as educational sites and government sites, by typing site:.edu or site:.gov into the search box along with your search terms
2. Put phrases in quotation marks to keep the words together (like "climate change") rather than having google search for the words independently of each other
