We Should've Asked Jeeves

Remember Ask Jeeves?

He was the helpful, if snooty, butler who existed to serve you.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Jeeves was the big man on the block (literally, he appeared as an oversized balloon in Macy Day Parades), and Google was the surname of an early 20th century comic strip character.

In many ways, Ask Jeeves was ahead of its time. The search engine’s key innovation was allowing users to ask questions like humans do, instead of adjusting their queries into computer-friendly keywords.

In other words, they tried to make an AI-fueled Search Engine, before AI was ready.

Given the tools of the day, Ask Jeeves’ creators, Garrett Gruener and David Warthen, were remarkably successful. But their approach was dependent on real-live human staff members. The web simply grew too fast to make that feasible.

So once Larry Page and Sergei Brin introduced Google’s first search algorithm, PageRank, Jeeves’ days were numbered.

The Modern Search Engine is Born

PageRank was revolutionary because it introduced a scalable way to sort search results by authority as determined by backlinks.

Backlinks are just links from one website referencing another. For example, I’ve linked to a few other web pages in this newsletter already. If backlinks were still the primary factor in search result rankings, I’d have done those websites a big favor by linking to them. (As it is now, I’ve given them a tiny boost, but the algorithm is based on many more factors).

Using backlinks as an indicator of legitimacy was designed to be analogous to using a paper’s citations as an indicator of legitimacy. (Turns out it’s a lot harder to get your paper cited in another peer-reviewed publication than it is to get someone else to link to your website. Who knew?)

Brin and Page weren’t quiet about PageRank. It started as an academic project which culminated in a journal paper, “The anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual Web search engine” (sounds like a fun read, eh?).

Unsurprisingly, as soon as the new era of search engines were born, so was a cottage industry of search engine manipulation, a practice known as “Black Hat” Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Given the relative straightforwardness of PageRank, people immediately found success with spambots and ‘link farms’, thus beginning a perpetual cycle: search engine algorithm updated → Black Hat SEO actors find workarounds → search engine algorithm updated … ♾️

Someone Pays $125 When You Click ‘Mesothelioma Lawyer’ Ads

In 1999, if you had an ad budget and a forward-thinking marketer, you could sell ads on Google - but you had to know a guy. Specifically, you needed to talk to Google employee #11, Omid Kordestani.

At the time, search-based advertising was an obvious way for Google to generate revenue that they desperately needed. Plus, it promised a big upgrade in online marketing for both advertisers and consumers. Rather than being bombarded with big flashy ads about random stuff, you got ads based on what you searched for. Neat.

But Google’s success was built on automation and scale. Sergei, Larry, and Omid knew that employing humans to sell ads would never work. They’d never achieve adequate supply to meet demand.

So they released another world-changing product: self-service AdWords (now just Google Ads).

With a self-service platform, people anywhere in the world, at any time, could create an ad and pay Google every time someone saw it. This later changed to a pay-per-click model.

It was a hit. (The first ever self-served Google Ad? Live mail-order lobsters).

To get your ad seen by the right people, you had to pick which search terms should lead users to your ad. And so began the practice of purchasing keywords.

Today, companies, non-profits, and influencers bid at cyber-auctions for the best keywords.

They use tools to identify keywords that best match their content. Or creatively invent new keywords and tell followers to search for them. Or co-opt keywords of their political opponents. Or any number of other tactics.

It also helps to have deep pockets.

In case you’re interested, here’s current info on the keyword “best mesothelioma lawyer”.

What You See is Not What I Get

Obviously, a lot has happened in the last 20 years.

Google’s search algorithms have gotten more complex and are now closely held secrets.

And as we briefly discussed last week (see that back-linking in action?!), the search terms you use when you “do your own research” will have dramatic effects on the results you get.

Plus, your results are increasingly tailored just for you, based on Google’s extensive data collection practices.

Remember Garrett Gruener, one of the Jeeves guys? He relays a conversation he had with one of Google’s founders (Page or Brin, he won’t name which):

See why I’m a little nostalgic for Jeeves?

Why Does This Matter?

Because search engines are playing an increasingly large role in defining our shared reality.

This isn’t theoretical, it’s having real-world impact on our family members, friends, and patients.

Here are a couple of concrete examples:

• Misinformation about the contraceptive pill is undermining its use. We can’t prove causality, but use of the pill has dropped from 47% to 27% between 2012 - 2023 in England.

  • Role of Search Engine:

    • TikTok videos and Instagram Reels are ranked on page 1, intermixed with the CDC and Society of Family Planning. Studies show that non-professional users have a hard time identifying legitimate sources from illegitimate ones.

    • The internet is now “seeded” with misinformation about the contraceptive pill. Searching for contraception side effects leads to many results focused on specific claims (like that the pill prevents future fertility). The sheer quantity of information makes the assertions appear more valid.

• “[Reading a wikipedia article about Trayvon Martin] prompted me to type in the words 'black on White crime' into Google, and I have never been the same since that day." - Dylann Roof, Charleston church mass shooter

  • Role of Search Engine:

    • This Google search brought up the Council of Conservative Citizens, a legitimate-sounding organization that has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. ‘Black on white crime’ is one of their keywords.

    • The term ‘black on white crime’ is not neutral. It is already infused with racist sentiment, predisposing Google to return results in line with that ideology.

Key Takeaways:

• Search engines are an under-recognized source of misinformation and disinformation

• The keywords you use - not the accuracy or pure intentions of your content - will have major impacts on who sees your content and how well you rank

• Pay-per-click advertising is an enormously effective tool - whether used for good or ill

• Your patients and learners may be less capable of differentiating trustworthy and untrustworthy sources than you think

• Google is ubiquitous and has a silly name - but that doesn’t mean it’s harmless. Patients are misled, conspiracy theories are nourished, and future terrorists are radicalized - all from a Google search. We ignore that fact at our own risk

Next Week:

A few lessons from Muammar Gaddafi’s PR guy.

See you then!

Do you know someone who is concerned about medical mis/disinformation and wants to explore how to address it through medical education?

Or someone who is curious and likes to learn?

If so, please forward this newsletter to them. I’d love your help in reaching more people!

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