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BS: International Google News editions
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Subject: BS: International Google News editions From: mayomick Date: 02 Jan 14 - 08:09 AM Does anybody know how google news decides what should be put on its front pages across its different international editions -something to do with algorithms is it ? Why for instance does Google News Ireland headlines in its health news section today tell us that " Hundreds of Illinoisans Look to Quit Smoking in 2014" ? This may or may not be interesting news for people living in Illinois, but I doubt if google news in the US would tell American readers that hundreds of Irish people have decided to quit smoking this year. |
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Subject: RE: BS: International Google News editions From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 02 Jan 14 - 01:07 PM I had never heard of Google News so I 'googled" it. There was a listing for my city. lead story was that house prices had hit an all-time record, but the rest was mostly local filler, stories about "compelling Calgarians. "World" news was just that, stories being carried on BBC news, etc. "Canada" had only Canadian stories. Nothing that I don't get on BBC, NY Times, or the local paper. |
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Subject: RE: BS: International Google News editions From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Jan 14 - 02:07 PM It seems a general truth that people in small countries are more likely to take an interest in what happens outside those countries than people in big countries. I'd imagine that kind of thing would show up in stuff like Google News as well. And that seems to go especially for what happens in the USA, which tends to be seen almost as a kind of alternative domestic. That's probably largely to do with our seeing all those American films and so forth. |
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Subject: RE: BS: International Google News editions From: JohnInKansas Date: 02 Jan 14 - 02:32 PM Slightly oversimplifying, everything Google does is based on "popularity" and the only criterion for what you see is "what will get the most click$." While it can be an amusing exercise to figure out how this works in a given case, it's about the only logical place to begin the study ... . Although it's a plausible conclusion, I'm not sure I can fully accept that people in small countries are more likely to take an interest in what happens outside those countries than people in big countries. My experience in various places in the US has been that the more "localized" the community the less the people care what happens beyond the nearest bus stop. Contact with people from elsewhere is what seems more likely to create interest in "the rest of the world." Of course that's just a guess on my part. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: International Google News editions From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Jan 14 - 05:26 PM " My experience in various places in the US has been that the more "localized" the community the less the people care what happens beyond the nearest bus stop. I think that might actually tend to reinforce my suggestion rather than counter it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: International Google News editions From: JohnInKansas Date: 02 Jan 14 - 05:51 PM Strange, McG. I thought it said exactly the opposite. I had a lsndlord in Dorchester Massachusetts who bragged that on his hoenymoon he borrowed his brother's car and took his bride to the Quicy rock quarry (about 70 miles), but he didn't know which direction it was to Boston or Cambridge (Massachusetts) (15 miles?), and didn't really care. Most of the locals there had rarely or ever been more than 20 miles from where they were born - and didn't much care about anything elsewhere. Natives in Milwaukee were a little more cosmopolitan, since they knew that if the bars were closed in Milwaukee you could still get beer in Green Bay (if there was a football game that day). I'd expect small countries to be much like small towns. They may know "who to blame" and what slogans to shout, but know - and care - little about actually knowing much about their "enemies" or anyone else. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: International Google News editions From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Jan 14 - 07:03 PM "I'd expect small countries to be much like small towns." And that where i'd be inclined to differ. Of course all generalisations about stuff like that are never to be trusted, but in many ways the situation of people living in a small town in a huge country is almost the reverse of being in a relatively small country in a big world. |
