Measuring the Importance of User-Generated Content to Search Engines

Abstract

Search engines are some of the most popular and profitable intelligent technologies in existence. Recent research, however, has suggested that search engines may be surprisingly dependent on user-created content like Wikipedia articles to address user information needs. In this paper, we perform a rigorous audit of the extent to which Google leverages Wikipedia and other user-generated content to respond to queries. Analyzing results for six types of important queries (e.g. most popular, trending, expensive advertising), we observe that Wikipedia appears in over 80% of results pages for some query types and is by far the most prevalent individual content source across all query types. More generally, our results provide empirical information to inform a nascent but rapidly-growing debate surrounding a highly-consequential question: Do users provide enough value to intelligent technologies that they should receive more of the economic benefits from intelligent technologies?

This version includes a bibliography entry that was missing from the first version of the text due to a processing error. This is a preprint of a paper accepted at ICWSM 2019. Please cite that version instead

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Review: Deep Learning in Electron Microscopy
• Ethics-Based Auditing of Automated Decision-Making Systems: Intervention Points and Policy Implications
• Evaluation Metrics for Measuring Bias in Search Engine Results
• Data Leverage: A Framework for Empowering the Public in its Relationship with Technology Companies
• A Deeper Investigation of the Importance of Wikipedia Links to the Success of Search Engines
• Mapping the Potential and Pitfalls of "Data Dividends" as a Means of Sharing the Profits of Artificial Intelligence