Google Real Time Search, is it Real Time Spam?
Google’s new addition to search results, Real Time Search, can give a good view of the world’s latest activity when it comes to the topic you are Googling. However, some people have brought up some very legitimate concerns regarding the possibility to use Twitter as a way to spam Google search results. When test driving how easy it is to be included in real time search results, another blogger showed how easy it is to use twitter status updates to target any keyword and warp it to your advantage.
With this technique, Rae Hoffman showed she could pose as a potential predator and target children or teenagers directly on Google. Forget the dangers of MySpace and Facebook for kids and teens, unless Google addresses the potential issues for Real Time Search Results, this could be a shameful twist to Google’s new search feature.
Forget using Real Time Results to get more relevant search results, using this feature anyone can cook up seemingly relevant results. Rae Hoffman isn’t the only one who is concerned about spam, USA Today reported on this issue as well, and if you are confused why in some cases you do and in others you do not see the scrolling real time results, this post explains it better. Essentially, Google will automatically determine a topic to be “hot” and “current” when there is a spike in activity for that search term, in which case a scrolling real time results box pops up in your results. More often than not the scrolling real time results are the the top of the page, among the first few results. The ultimate question none of the critics seem to address is whether it is plausible Google can find a way around the issue. Once the spamming issues can be addressed, we can maybe get back to the real question of whether Real Time Search results are going to make our lives any better. Some believe real time indexing (i.e. therefore real time search) is necessary. What do you think?
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The real time search function has definitely brought up a lot of concerns about spam but I had never considered the possibility of predators taking advantage of it as well.
Hopefully Google will find a way to address these issues before something serious happens, although I’m not sure that is a feasible possibility.
I still have yet to see a point in real-time search results, at least for anyone other than Google. Sure this can keep people from leaving Google’s site to go to twitter or facebook, but I do not believe that this is a necessary tool for searching the web. If I am searching for apple computer reviews, I don’t want to know about the girl in Connecticut thinking the Mac commercial guy is cute. How is this beneficial to anyone other than Google?
I agree Rachel, there really isn’t a point. I also don’t care about random strangers thoughts about the art scene in New York or Toronto. I don’t even understand why they brought out the real time search thing, because usually Google seems to introduce products that actually enrich their user’s lives. This just doesn’t do it. Plus, it doesn’t make me not go to twitter, because I really just care about the tweets I am following.
it remains to be seen what happens to this… the predator thing is scary in any event.
I didn’t really think about the implication of spam but I don’t believe realtime results should be integrated into the rest of the standard results page.
Searches for realtime type of contents are very unique and specific in its application and I would rather Google have kept it as a seperate category. I think this is an example of Google’s universal search on mad.