scholarly journals Misplaced trust? The relationship between trust, ability to identify commercially influenced results and search engine preference

2021 ◽  
pp. 016555152110141
Author(s):  
Sebastian Schultheiß ◽  
Dirk Lewandowski

People have a high level of trust in search engines, especially Google, but only limited knowledge of them, as numerous studies have shown. This leads to the question: To what extent is this trust justified considering the lack of familiarity among users with how search engines work and the business models they are founded on? We assume that trust in Google, search engine preferences and knowledge of result types are interrelated. To examine this assumption, we conducted a representative online survey with n = 2012 German Internet users. We show that users with little search engine knowledge are more likely to trust and use Google than users with more knowledge. A contradiction revealed itself – users strongly trust Google, yet they are unable to adequately evaluate search results. For those users, this may be problematic since it can potentially affect knowledge acquisition. Consequently, there is a need to promote user information literacy to create a more solid foundation for user trust in search engines. The impact of our study lies in emphasising the need for creating appropriate training formats to promote information literacy.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Muhammad Haikal Haikal

This study focuses on the impact of censorship policy implementation with Tiongkoknese government activities against Google Inc. in Tiongkok. The Tiongkoknese government has enforced strict censorship of google which is a multinational corporation with its main product of web-based search engine that provides information and news in general and is freely accessible to Internet users, but the information must be done first through a screening process conducted by the Tiongkoknese government, if the keyword in the input in the search engine service contains a negative view of the government, then the information will be in search is blocked by the Tiongkoknese government and disappear from google search.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Ala’ A. Alkarablieh

<p>This study aims at measuring the impact of using the most popular search engines: Google and Yahoo Bing networks on attracting new customers towards company websites and on the effectiveness of online advertisements. Quantitative research method and questionnaires were used by researcher to collect data.</p><p>The researcher distributed (129) questionnaires on (33) companies that use E-marketing in Jordan. Among those only (87) questionnaires were returned and (42) of which only were usable and valid for the statistical analysis. After executing the analysis, the study concluded that Google search engine has a direct effect on attracting new customers and on online advertisements effectiveness at (α ≤ 0.05) level for companies using E-marketing in Jordan, while Yahoo Bing search engine has a direct effect on attracting new customers and on the effectiveness online advertisements at (α ≤ 0.05) level for companies using E-marketing in Jordan.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Strzelecki

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to clarify how many removal requests are made, how often, and who makes these requests, as well as which websites are reported to search engines so they can be removed from the search results. Design/methodology/approach Undertakes a deep analysis of more than 3.2bn removed pages from Google’s search results requested by reporting organizations from 2011 to 2018 and over 460m removed pages from Bing’s search results requested by reporting organizations from 2015 to 2017. The paper focuses on pages that belong to the .pl country coded top-level domain (ccTLD). Findings Although the number of requests to remove data from search results has been growing year on year, fewer URLs have been reported in recent years. Some of the requests are, however, unjustified and are rejected by teams representing the search engines. In terms of reporting copyright violations, one company in particular stands out (AudioLock.Net), accounting for 28.1 percent of all reports sent to Google (the top ten companies combined were responsible for 61.3 percent of the total number of reports). Research limitations/implications As not every request can be published, the study is based only what is publicly available. Also, the data assigned to Poland is only based on the ccTLD domain name (.pl); other domain extensions for Polish internet users were not considered. Originality/value This is first global analysis of data from transparency reports published by search engine companies as prior research has been based on specific notices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Ronal Watrianthos ◽  
Ibnu Rasyid Munthe ◽  
Rahma Muti’ah

Along with the rapid development of Social Networking Sites (SNS), social media, recently, has become a lifestyle for many people around the world, including in Indonesia. The data in January 2018 showed that in Indonesia out of 132.7 million internet users, almost all (131 million), or up 23% from the data in 2017, were Facebook users with the dominance of 18-24 years old, 35% of whom were the highest active users. The rapid growth of Facebook users annually in Indonesia, especially in the age of students and college students, encourages researchers to conduct many empirical studies of Facebook use among students. There is a tendency for using Facebook continuously to create FAD effects (Facebook Addiction Disorder) among students and can affect the spirit of learning. This study also discusses what is the motivation for using Facebook and seeing the potential for FAD to occur. In this study, an online survey over 375 respondents from several students in Labuhanbatu District was conducted. To explore respondents' motives in using Facebook, respondents were given questions that were divided into the following five motives: social interaction, leisure time, entertainment, friends, and communication. While to look for potential addiction, respondents were given questions using the Bergen Facebook Addiction (BFAD) scale. In getting a connection between the motives for using Facebook and Facebook Addiction, the data was tested by analysis of variants (ANOVA) and partial tests using SPSS software. The results obtained were 65.8% of participants were at a moderate level, while 20.3% were at a low level, and only 13.9% of participants were at a high level. While the most significant motive affecting respondents in using Facebook is the motive to fill the time and motives for communicating.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 965-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Bienhaus ◽  
Abubaker Haddud

Purpose While digitisation is a key driver of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0); organisations have different approaches to deal with this topic to get a clearer picture of the opportunities and challenges concerning the digital transformation. The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of digitisation on procurement and its role within the area of supply chain management. The research will also explore potential barriers to digitising procurement and supply chains and ways to overcome them. Finally, the significance of potential enabling technologies to the digitisation will also be examined. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approached utilising an online survey was used to collect the primary data for this study. Data were collected from 414 participants directly involved with procurement or related business functions and work for different organisations in different industries. The survey included eight items about the impact of digitisation on organisational performance in the area of procurement and supply chains; ten items related to key barriers to digitisation of organisations and ways to overcome them; and seven items about enabling technologies to leverage procurement procedures and processes digitisation. All of these items utilised the Likert five-point level of agreement scale. Findings The findings indicate that digitisation of procurement process can yield several benefits including: supporting daily business and administrative tasks, supporting complex decision-making processes, procurement will become more focussed on strategic decisions and activities, procurement will become a strategic interface to support organisational efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability, and supporting the creation of new business models, products, and services. The authors were also able to confirm that there are barriers to digitising procurement process and supply chains and such barriers found in existing procedures, processes, capacities, and capabilities. Finally, the significance of a number of enabling technologies to the digitisation process was revealed. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind with participants located world-wide. Industry 4.0 as a topic had been explored within different business areas and functions but very limited research specifically explored potential impact, barriers, and enabling technologies of procurement 4.0. The results can be beneficial for organisations already implemented Industry 4.0 or planning to do so. The study can also benefit academic scholars interested in the researched topic, business professionals, organisations within different sectors, and any other party interested in understanding more the concept of procurement 4.0.


Author(s):  
Cai Fu ◽  
Zhaokang Ke ◽  
Yunhe Zhang ◽  
Xiwu Chen ◽  
Liqing Cao ◽  
...  

With the popularization of computers and the development of information engineering, the emergence of search engines makes it possible to get the information needed from big data quickly and efficiently. However, in recent years, a multiplicity of new viruses have been propagated by search engines. Many researchers choose to cut off the source of virus propagation, ignoring the virus immunization strategy based on the search engine. In this paper, we analyze the impact of search engines on virus propagation. First, considering the immune effect and cost, two kinds of immune mechanisms based on the search engine that have greater practicability are defined. Second, immune mechanisms based on the search engine are theoretically analyzed by the iteration method and the dynamic method. The results show that this immunization strategy can slow down or eliminate the propagation of a virus to a certain extent. Third, three real social network data sets are used to simulate and analyze the immune mechanism. We find that when the proportion of nodes being infected and the proportion of infected nodes being identified by the search engine satisfy a certain relationship, our immune mechanism can inhibit the spread of viruses, which confirms our theoretical analysis results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (03) ◽  
pp. e258-e266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Paulo Kowalski ◽  
Rui Imamura ◽  
Gilberto de Castro Junior ◽  
Gustavo Nader Marta ◽  
Aline Lauda Freitas Chaves ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infection caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and it is highly transmissible, especially through respiratory droplets. To prepare the health system for the care of these patients also led to a restriction in the activity of several medical specialties. Physicians who work with patients affected by diseases of the head and neck region constitute one of the populations most vulnerable to COVID-19 and also most affected by the interruption of their professional activities. Objective The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of head and neck surgeons and otorhinolaryngologists in Brazil. Methods An anonymous online survey of voluntary participation was applied, containing 30 questions regarding demographic aspects, availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), and impact on the routine of head and neck surgeons and otorhinolaryngologists, as well as clinical oncologists and radiation oncologists who work with head and neck diseases. Results Seven hundred and twenty-nine answers were received in a period of 4 days, ∼ 40 days after the 1st confirmed case in Brazil. With professionals working in public and private services, there was a high level of concerns with the disease and its consequences, limited availability of PPE and a significant decrease in the volume of specialized medical care. Conclusion The study demonstrated a direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical practice of specialties related to the treatment of patients with diseases of the head and neck region already in the beginning of the illness management in Brazil.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rovira ◽  
Codina ◽  
Guerrero-Solé ◽  
Lopezosa

Search engine optimization (SEO) constitutes the set of methods designed to increase the visibility of, and the number of visits to, a web page by means of its ranking on the search engine results pages. Recently, SEO has also been applied to academic databases and search engines, in a trend that is in constant growth. This new approach, known as academic SEO (ASEO), has generated a field of study with considerable future growth potential due to the impact of open science. The study reported here forms part of this new field of analysis. The ranking of results is a key aspect in any information system since it determines the way in which these results are presented to the user. The aim of this study is to analyze and compare the relevance ranking algorithms employed by various academic platforms to identify the importance of citations received in their algorithms. Specifically, we analyze two search engines and two bibliographic databases: Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic, on the one hand, and Web of Science and Scopus, on the other. A reverse engineering methodology is employed based on the statistical analysis of Spearman’s correlation coefficients. The results indicate that the ranking algorithms used by Google Scholar and Microsoft are the two that are most heavily influenced by citations received. Indeed, citation counts are clearly the main SEO factor in these academic search engines. An unexpected finding is that, at certain points in time, Web of Science (WoS) used citations received as a key ranking factor, despite the fact that WoS support documents claim this factor does not intervene.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haylee Fox ◽  
Stephanie M. Topp ◽  
Emily Callander ◽  
Daniel Lindsay

Abstract Background The World Health Organization states there are three interrelated domains that are fundamental to achieving and maintaining universal access to care - raising sufficient funds for health care, reducing financial barriers to access by pooling funds in a way that prevents out-of-pocket costs, and allocating funds in a way that promotes quality, efficiency and equity. In Australia, a comprehensive account of the mechanisms for financing the health system have not been synthesised elsewhere. Therefore, to understand how the maternal health system is financed, this review aims to examine the mechanisms for funding, pooling and purchasing maternal health care and the influence these financing mechanisms have on the delivery of maternal health services in Australia. Methods We conducted a scoping review and interpretative synthesis of the financing mechanisms and their impact on Australia’s maternal health system. Due to the nature of the study question, the review had a major focus on grey literature. The search was undertaken in three stages including; searching (1) Google search engine (2) targeted websites and (3) academic databases. Executive summaries and table of contents were screened for grey literature documents and Titles and Abstracts were screened for journal articles. Screening of publications’ full-text followed. Data relating to either funding, pooling, or purchasing of maternal health care were extracted for synthesis. Results A total of 69 manuscripts were included in the synthesis, with 52 of those from the Google search engine and targeted website (grey literature) search. A total of 17 articles we included in the synthesis from the database search. Conclusion Our study provides a critical review of the mechanisms by which revenues are raised, funds are pooled and their impact on the way health care services are purchased for mothers and babies in Australia. Australia’s maternal health system is financed via both public and private sources, which consequentially creates a two-tiered system. Mothers who can afford private health insurance – typically wealthier, urban and non-First Nations women - therefore receive additional benefits of private care, which further exacerbates inequity between these groups of mothers and babies. The increasing out of pocket costs associated with obstetric care may create a financial burden for women to access necessary care or it may cause them to skip care altogether if the costs are too great.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1295-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin von Haartman ◽  
Lars Bengtsson

Purpose – The interest in global purchasing has increased significantly in recent years, but the impact on product innovation is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse the impact of global purchasing on product innovation sourced from suppliers, while taking into account how firms integrate their suppliers. Design/methodology/approach – The data used in this study are from the International Purchasing Survey, an international online survey on purchasing and supply management conducted in 2009. The data are analysed using factor and regression analyses. Findings – The paper shows that global purchasing has no direct impact on product innovation performance. However, supplier integration is more strongly associated with product innovation performance for firms purchasing globally compared to firms purchasing regionally. Practical implications – The implication is that when companies purchase globally, they must have a highly developed purchasing department in order to sustain a high level of innovation. For firms purchasing only regionally, the role of the purchasing department is diminished, at least in terms of contributing to innovation. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the discussion of potential advantages and disadvantages of global purchasing. First, the paper provides an explanation for the ambiguous results of previous research. Product innovation does not depend on whether firms are purchasing globally or not, it depends on how they purchase. This paper has showed that when purchasing globally, the role of the purchasing department becomes crucial for product innovation. The proficiency and activities of the purchasing department largely determine the success, in terms of supplier product innovation, of global purchasing.


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