Psychologist and researcher Robert Epstein has published research
(embedded below) that he contends shows how search rankings “have the
potential to profoundly influence voters without them noticing the
impact.” He calls this capacity the “Search Engine Manipulation Effect”
or “SEME.”
The study tested how search rankings affected the perceptions and
candidate preferences of “2,000 undecided voters throughout India.”
India just concluded national elections.
The research found that rankings could affect undecided voter opinion
significantly: “votes in India can easily be pushed toward one
candidate or another by about 12 percent . . . enough to determine the
outcomes of many close races.”
No comments:
Post a Comment