Search engines play a key role on the internet: as intermediaries of information, they increasingly control access to online content. Their powerful position is further strengthened by users’ trust in the selection process. There is therefore a risk that recipients’ use of information will depend less on their own active choices and more on the search engine’s selection process. In this regard, a potential threat stems primarily from Google, which, with a market share of over 90 per cent of all search queries in Germany, holds a virtual monopoly.
In addition to traditional service information (e.g. opening hours or help with everyday problems), search engines are increasingly being used to access news, particularly by younger age groups. Studies show that topics currently being discussed in the mass media, in particular, are also frequently searched for via search engines. In this respect, search engines now provide a service comparable to that of journalism. The call to impose similar regulatory requirements on search engines as on the mass media is gradually finding its way into media policy considerations.
Using content analysis, the project examines the extent to which the search results from five search engines (Google, Bing, Ask, Ixquick and DuckDuckGo) meet two normative criteria that are regarded in studies on journalistic quality as particularly crucial for citizens to form well-informed opinions: diversity (diversity of information and opinion) and social relevance. Based on search results for ten current, controversial political topics, the study examines the extent to which the search engines provide the conditions necessary to empower users in their role as citizens.
Publication:
- Searching the internet – a one-sided or diverse source of information? (Media Perspektiven, Issue 9/2019)
Project team members:
- Miriam Steiner M.A.
- Prof. Dr. Birgit Stark
Partners:
Funding:
Analytical instrument:
