GROUP 1: GENEVIEVE BLAND, ARWEN MCCAFFREY, AND ANGELA STALCUPQUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE

GOOGLE, INC. AS GLOBAL GATEKEEPER

• As a transnational media corporation (TNMC), Google faces the economic imperative to maintain market domination of Internet search.

• This project investigates Google, Inc. as a gatekeeper of the Internet to globalized audiences in these two areas:

• In what ways does the corporate structure of Google, Inc. create a gatekeeping effect?

• What are the effects of Google, Inc. as gatekeeper on global audiences?

GOOGLE INC. AND THE GLOBALIZED AUDIENCEDespite the access to information made easy by the Internet, users must still rely on a gatekeeper to access the information – in this case, a search tool such as Google.

As of March 2014, Google commands 71% of the market share, making it the largest search engine in the world.

(MarketLine, p. 21)

MEDIA GATEKEEPING THEORY

• “The process by which the billions of messages that are available in the world get cut down and transformed into the hundreds of messages that reach a given person on a given day” (Shoemaker, 1991, p. 1).

• “The directed flow of information” (Granka, 2010): where entities (individuals, organizations, governments) filter and/or control the flow of information to audiences.

• In a media context, media gatekeeping theory examines how selections are made regarding news and information before reaching media consumers.

(Gatekeeping theory, n.d.)

MEDIA GATEKEEPING: AN EVOLUTION

GATEKEEPING: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

For this project, the researchers looked for evidence of the following in Google Search and examined how Google corporate structure and the global issues of search engine bias and censorship impacted Google as gatekeeper:

• Gate: “entrance to or exit from a network or its sections” (Barzilai-Nahon, 2008, p. 1496)

• Gatekeeping: “the process of controlling information as it moves through a gate” (p. 1496)

• Gated :“the entity subjected to gatekeeping” (p. 1496)

• Gatekeeping mechanism: “a tool, technology, or methodology used to carry out the process of gatekeeping” (p. 1496)

• Network gatekeeper – “an entity (people, organizations, or governments) that has the discretion to exercise gatekeeping through a gatekeeping mechanism in networks and can choose the extent to which to exercise it contingent upon the gated standing” (p. 1497)

CORPORATE STRUCTURE

• Aggressive acquisition strategy began in early 2000s

• Goal is to “find key companies with strong engineering power and succeeding where we are not” (Steiber & Alange, 2013, p. 251)

• Acquiring diverse technological specialties helps Google dominate the Internet and forces increased interaction with Google

Google’s corporate structure aligns with gatekeeper theory in three main areas: Acquisition strategy Key partnerships with other, key media corporations Reliance on advertising for revenue

ACQUISITION STRATEGY

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CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS• Google has advertising partnerships with several major media corporations• Additional, indirect associations between high-ranking Google board members and additional media

corporations• Ann Mather, on Board of Directors, is also a Director for Netflix, Glu Mobile, and Shutterfly; previously

CFO for both Pixar Animation Studios and Village Roadshow Pictures• Nikesh Arora, Senior VP and Chief Business Officer, previously worked for Deutsche Telecom and T-Mobile

International• As a result, Google’s gatekeeping reach extends beyond the Internet, reaches radio and television consumers• Google board members with indirect associations act as gatekeepers of business info, as well as exerting

influence over Google’s gatekeeping

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REVENUE FROM ADVERTISING

• In 2013, advertising provided 84.3% of Google’s revenue (MarketLine, p. 22)

• Primary advertising product is AdWords

• Clients can pay Google on either a cost-per-click (where advertisers pays Google for each click their advertisements receive) or a cost-per-impression basis (where advertiser pays based on the number of times its ads appear)

• Additionally, YouTube (owned by Google) owns 20.5% of the video advertising market share in the United States (MarketLine, p. 23)

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SEARCH ENGINE BIASALGORITHM DESIGN HUMAN EDITORS GOOGLE’S DOMINANCE

• For every given search term, a search engine engages with its automated algorithm to decide what information to present to the searcher (Granka, 2010, p. 365)

• A search engine has to first identify relevant content, and then rank order the most pertinent results.

• Linguistic cues, popularity cues, and user behavior cues (p. 366)

• Controls over half of global market share for search (MarketLine, p. 21)

• Over 180 Internet Domains (Google.de, google.ca, google.cn) for search in 130 languages (Ten things…, n.d.)

• The biases of Google search impact a globalized audience

• In addition to the algorithm, search engines are subject to governmental policies in the countries served.

• EU – “Right to be forgotten” – As of May 2014, EU citizens have a right to opt-out of Google tracking, thus impacting PageRank and filtering for those audiences (Neroth, 2014)

• China – To accommodate Internet censorship “search engines [are] architecturally altered to serve political regimes” (Jiang, 2014)

SEARCH ENGINE BIASEVIDENCE OF BIAS

• In a comparison of Google to Baidu, Jiang (2014) found “little ranking similarity” (p. 221) between the two, suggesting each had its own biases and thus created “different social realities” (p. 221).

• Bui (2010) found that the “Popularity Cues” of search engines favor the Big Five TNMCs—Comcast, Disney, News Corp., Time-Warner, Viacom—thus creating a bias to U.S. news

• In-linking and PageRank creates a cycle reinforcing most popular sites (Fortunato, Flammini, Menczer & Vespignani, 2006; Walker, 2002)

EFFECTS

• Globalized audiences receive different search results based on location

• Results favor U.S.-based media companies

• Targeted ads can obscure “pure” search data

GOOGLE IN CHINA: AN OVERVIEW The Chinese government mandates strict

information censorship laws, including data retrieval via Internet search.

Google.cn was founded in 2005, but was subject to China's censorship laws from the beginning.

In 2009, the Chinese government began blocking user access to Google’s YouTube service due to material deemed controversial.

In 2010, a portion of Google’s services were hacked by the Chinese. In response, the company stated it was no longer willing to cooperate with censorship laws.

In March 2010, Google.cn began redirecting all search traffic through the Hong Kong server, permitting less restriction on data retrieval (BBC News, 2010).

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content/uploads/2012/06/3747921239_037863450b_o.jpg

GOOGLE IN CHINA: CENSORSHIP CASE STUDY

A search of censored information via Google.cn yielded automatic “page not found” or “the connection was reset” error messages due to filtering parameters.

Chinese government requires censorship of politically sensitive topics. This initiative is known as the “Golden Shield Project.”

In order to do business in China, Google had to comply with China's censorship laws.

Statement from Google regarding content censorship in China: “While removing search results is inconsistent with Google’s mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission” (BBC News, 2006).

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GOOGLE IN CHINA: A CONTRADICTION TO COMPANY PHILOSOPHY

Google's ideology of “Don't Be Evil” came under fire as a result of the company's participation with China's censorship laws (Wilson, Ramos, & Harvey, n.d.).

Critics saw the move as a contradiction to Google's policies of unbiased search and open information access.

As the undisputed owner of Internet search, Google occupies the role of gatekeeper of information.

Google’s actions in China represented a conflict between the company’s ideology and an untapped and burgeoning market for Internet search.

When Google censors content in China, they act as a second gatekeeping layer atop already restricted access to information.

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GOOGLE IN CHINA: ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

Google's expansion into China was driven by profitability of capitalizing on new market sector.

With 250 million+ Internet users, China represents a massive search market.

Google is currently surpassed by two other search engine companies in China, Baidu.com and Soso.com (BBC News, 2010).

China viewed its initial partnership with Google as a positive propaganda move that bolstered the country’s image in the eyes of the Western world (Eko, Kumar, & Yao, 2011).

China’s search market increases by 40% annually (BBC News, 2010).

Many argue that China “needs” Google in order to solidify its commitment to Western business models (Eko, Kumar, & Yao, 2011).Image source:

http://this.org/magazine/files/2010/08/ja10-google-china.png

GOOGLE AS GATEKEEPER: APPLICATION OF THEORYDue to scope and reach, Google, Inc. controls the largest gate on the Internet. Google Search

• Gate: Algorithm (automated)

• Gate: Governmental policies (human editors contribute to adjusted algorithm)

• Gated: Global Internet users of Google Search

• Gatekeeping mechanisms:

• Selection: preference due to in-linking (popularity) favors Big Five TNMC

• Localization: content filtered based on searchers location (local, national)

• Display: with AdWords advertisers given featured listings in search results

• Deletion/censorship: governmental policies lead to censorship of content in certain regions of the globe

• Shaping: content selection shaped by searcher’s relationship with Google (logged-in as a user; geo-targeted ads)

• Forces:

• Google, Inc.’s economic imperative to maintain and grow market position for stockholders

• Growing competition from other Internet gatekeepers (other Internet Search providers, digital media platforms)

• Differing nation-state policies on privacy, content and censorship

• Results:

• To maintain its position as a gatekeeper to the Chinese consumer market, Google willingly betrays its stated commitment to an open, accessible Internet.

• Globalized audiences have inconsistent experiences based on localization, governmental policy, and value to advertisers, potentially obscuring valuable/needed information.

CONCLUSION Supporting Internet censorship in China demonstrates favoring

of economic benefits over company creed Google commands tremendous influence as a TNMC, and

therefore must consider the impact of its relationships with global partners

Different cultural and political climates Google's decision to relocate to Hong Kong sent a strong

message to the Chinese government about the company's eventual unwillingness to cooperate with censorship laws.

Sets a dangerous precedent toward the future of data retrieval, potentially jeopardizing the current network-neutral state of the internet

In the current net neutrality debate, decisions to protect freedom of information access speak to the importance of maintaining the openness of the Internet.

Google must address these issues if it wishes to maintain its position as Internet gatekeeper – or face the demands of the gated

Image from www.crowdcontent.com

Barzilai-Nahon, K. (2008). Toward a theory of network gatekeeping: A framework for exploring information control. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 59(9), 1493-1512.

Bui, C. (2010). How online gatekeepers guard our view – News portals’ inclusion and ranking of media and events. Global Media Journal. 9(16), 1-41.

China condemns decision by Google to lift censorship. (2010, March 23). Retrieved October 11, 2014, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8582233.stm

Economides, N., & Hermalin, B. E. (2012). The economics of network neutrality. RAND Journal of Economics (Wiley-Blackwell), 43(4), 602-629. DOI:10.1111/1756-2171.12001.

Eko, L., Kumar, A., & Yao, Q. (2011). Google this: The great firewall of China, the IT wheel of India, Google INC., and Internet regulation. Journal of Internet Law, 15(3), 3-14.

S. Fortunato, A. Flammini, F. Menczer and A. Vespignani. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(34), 12684-12689.

Gilroy, A. A. (2013). Access to broadband networks: The net neutrality debate. Journal of Current Issues in Media & Telecommunications, 5(4), 331-351.

Google censors itself for China. (2006, January 25). Retrieved October 11, 2014, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4645596.stm

REFERENCES

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