Google has long dominated the search culture in society, providing solutions to all manner of queries. Whether you need directions, a plumber or a birthday present, for many the first stop is Google. It has entered into the social lexicon as a synonymous term for search itself; to “Google” something is to find the answer to your question.

The search engine giant has taken a step further into our lives recently with the development of their ‘Culturomics’ tool. This searchable database of over 5m digitised texts allows Google to compare and analyse the significance of certain words, phrases and concepts within the context of culture, dependant upon their relative proliferation throughout the literature.

The tool represents a new dimension in search, providing insightful information on society in addition to simply presenting users with suggested solutions to arbitrary questions. Of course, Google has always utilised various algorithms in their quest to organize SERPs into an order based on relevance, however, the latest undertaking offers the means to engage with that order in a more analytical and in-depth manner.

A QueryClick spokesperson commented on the new approach to cultural research:

“The computational analysis of cultural trends is not a new phenomenon, but the Culturomics tool represents the most comprehensive and widely available instance of such an approach to sociological study. Using the tool, research into linguistic development as well as cultural shifts can be studied with ease.”

For instance, a quick comparison of the proliferation of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra over time shows that the latter was theoretically the most popular/famous/written about of the two until the late 1980s. After this point Elvis took over and has remained more culturally significant since.

In addition to the culture comparison tool, Google has also developed the Reading Level function, available within the Advanced Search options. The process allows users to set their reading level to either basic, intermediate or advanced depending on the complexity of results they seek. This filter then separates the wheat from the chaff so to speak, and purports to offer a more relevant group of results based on the user’s reading level.

The results can sometimes cause concern with regards to their implications however. For example, a search for ‘biology’ on the advanced level returns the wikipedia page for the term, whilst the basic results allocate top spot to a video of the Girls Aloud song entitled ‘Biology’. From this it seems that if you don’t like complex biology, you must either be a girl, prefer pop music, or both.

Via EPR Network
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