Papers by Elizabeth Van Couvering
By using documentary and archival evidence to analyse the historical development of search engine... more By using documentary and archival evidence to analyse the historical development of search engines from 1994-2010, this chapter shows how search engines have used the development of automatically priced, widely syndicated, paid-performance advertising to become online media powerhouses although they neither originate nor control content per se. The chapter lays out a model of "navigational media" that describes not only search engines but social media and some online retail activities such as eBay and Amazon Marketplace
Essay for Research Seminar for Media …, Jan 1, 2003
Theories of the nature of media power rely on observations over the years about the workings of m... more Theories of the nature of media power rely on observations over the years about the workings of mass media. These theories are often cited, unchanged, when discussing power and power relations on the Internet. This essay develops an argument to the effect that the Internet is not a mass medium but in some ways rather more complex, including a much greater range of producers, an audience with a far greater degree of potential content choice, and access to content which is framed by the technical capabilities of the audience and a discourse around
Following Beauvisage, web navigation can be divided into a home range of frequently visited websi... more Following Beauvisage, web navigation can be divided into a home range of frequently visited websites, a second tier of activity-based websites, and a third tier of websites visited only once during "explorations". Search engines generally are used not only for exploratory activities but to refind sites in the second tier which are not used on an everyday basis. The paper goes on to discuss the implications of these findings when considering bias in search engine results.
Is relevance relevant? Market, science, and war: Discourses of search engine quality
Journal of Computer‐Mediated …, Jan 1, 2007
In the face of rising controversy about search engine resultsthat they are too restrictive, too ... more In the face of rising controversy about search engine resultsthat they are too restrictive, too comprehensive, lacking in certain areas, over-represented in othersthis article presents the results of in-depth interviews with search engine producers, examining their conceptions ...
Handbook of research …, Jan 1, 2008
t +44 (0) 20 7955 7710 f +44 (0) 20 7955 7248 e s.livingstone@lse.ac.uk Converging Traditions in ... more t +44 (0) 20 7955 7710 f +44 (0) 20 7955 7248 e s.livingstone@lse.ac.uk Converging Traditions in Literacy Research 2
… Conference of the International Association of Media …, Jan 1, 2004
This paper presents a structural analysis of the Internet search engine market. Search engines ar... more This paper presents a structural analysis of the Internet search engine market. Search engines are a core element of the Internet media system, topping the Nielsen NetRatings Top 10 list of online properties in every market measured and generating advertising revenues of billions of dollars each year. Using a search engine is the most popular online activity after reading email. A political economy approach is used to identify the relevant parties in the system, their ownership, their exchanges, and the constraints to which they are subjected. The market is shown to be similar to other media markets in that it is both highly concentrated and global in scope, and funded primarily by advertising. However, there are several important differences. First, although traditional media conglomerates operate online, they do not control the most powerful actors such as Google and Yahoo!. Second, the advertising market is structured differently. Advertising is normally linked to words entered as search terms by users, and this keyword-based advertising is syndicated to other search engines, large and small, primarily by Google and Yahoo!-owned Overture, increasing their influence. Third, the situation is complicated by new commercial actors called search engine optimisation companies who operate within a grey market often in opposition to search engine companies, to strengthen the rank of their clients in search engine results. Recent studies within the computer science discipline have shown search engine results to be systematically biased in favour of commercial sites, popular sites, and US-based sites. With no public service mandate and little regulation, the study raises the question of whether the current system of search provision online serves the 'public good'.
Uploads
Papers by Elizabeth Van Couvering