The Null Device

So much for objective search results; the Google search engine (you know, the only one that gives you something other than porn sites) now blacklists anti-Scientology websites from search results; Google has programmed its filters to elide all references to sites such as Operation Clambake, which criticise the Church of Scientology and its practices, from search results, presumably for fear of Elron's legal rottweilers. At the moment, only search results for "scientology" are censored; looking for "operation clambake" still takes you to xenu.net.

There are 4 comments on "":

Posted by: Jimbob http://the-fix.org Thu Mar 21 04:14:49 2002

People have got so used to just using Google they've fogotten there are other great search engines out there too. A search for "scientology" using my favourite (http://www.alltheweb.com) listed pro- and anti-scientology sites on the first page, as well as a special fast-link labeled "Opposing --> Scientology".

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Thu Mar 21 06:16:49 2002

That's because Google has the algorithm to prevent scammers from filling it up with porn sites and what have you, something that the others have fallen prey to.

Posted by: Jimbob http://the-fix.org Thu Mar 21 23:49:15 2002

Not any more tho - google came up with that algorithm first, but that doesn't mean other search engines have been left behind...Altavista still sucks a bit, but AllTheWeb never gives ME any porn/scam sites. It's just as good as google, and better if you're searching for an exact phrase (ie. song lyric, error message)

Posted by: Joe http:// Sat Mar 23 16:06:54 2002

These remarks are untrue. Google DOES show results of searches for "operation clambake". I just checked and got 5,050 hits.