Algorithmic Ideology in Action: How Google's Ranking Algorithm Impacts Different Types of Information

Abstract

Search engines function as important gatekeepers to online information of any kind in more or less every societal domain. Their ranking algorithms determine the visibility of actors and content by creating a hierarchical order of linked websites on the search engine result page (SERP). These algorithmic decisions get additional significance due to the highly concentrated search engine market and the predominant user behavior of only considering the first 10 links on a SERP or even less [2; 7]. In countries like Germany with a stable market share of around 90 % for Google, this creates an enormous pressure for websites to be represented within Google s first results for certain keywords. The emerging field of search engine optimization can be regarded as a reaction to this (aiming at achieving a high SERP ranking for websites by adapting them technically to meet the algorithmic criteria for high relevance). Numerous academic publications have also addressed the societal significance of search engines and their wide-ranging information political implications [3; 5; 8-10]. In particular the neutrality of ranking algorithms alleged by Google has been questioned. For example, it has been observed that there are few actors who particularly benefit from the algorithm s favoring of well-linked websites, resulting in a “Googlarchy” [4]. Scholars focusing on the social construction of technology have pointed out search engine developers incorporate specific values in their products leading to an “algorithmic ideology” which serves especially capitalistic needs [6]. However, due to