Informatics program compares Google results in different countries

Google is not unique to America, but the version Americans use is. \nThe School of Informatics created a program to visually contrast search engines such as Google and Yahoo! and their results in different countries, said Filippo Menczer, associate professor at the School of Informatics. Results might vary because of censorship laws, and the same keywords will not necessarily yield the same results in any two countries. With the program, Chinese search engines can be accessed with American versions simultaneously, and results from both can be displayed on a computer screen. \nMenczer, along with computer science student Mark Meiss, developed the program, CenSEARCHip. \n"(At the School of Informatics) we're studying not just technology in a vacuum, but also how it affects people's lives, and censorship is an example," Menczer said. \nIn order to use CenSEARCHip, users simply log on and type in a keyword, \nMenczer explained. CenSEARCHip can be accessed at http://homer.informatics.indiana.edu/censearchip. Results for one country appear on one side of the computer screen, while results from the other country appear opposite. CenSEARCHip scans both sets of results for "tag clouds," which are words that appear more frequently on one side or the other. When comparing results between China and the United States, the keywords "Tiananmen Square" yield very different results.\n"On one side, you see images of tanks," Menczer said, referring to the results in the United States. "On the other, you see (tourism) and happy people."\nStephen Chen, honorary student adviser to the Chinese Student and Scholar \nAssociation, said he thinks tourism is more significant to Tiananmen Square than the protests that occurred in the late 1980s. Other results using the Chinese version of Google could be blocked because of China's laws against pornography and gambling. \n"I think (the difference in search engines) is fair because different countries have different situations," Chen said. \nIt is also difficult to tell what is accurate on the Web anymore, he said.\n"You never know which (sites) are right," Chen said. \nRon Li, president of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association, said the differences between search results are an example of the "typical non-McDonald's standardization."\n"McDonald's is the same, pretty much, all over the world -- Big Macs taste and look the same here in the U.S. and in China," Li said in an e-mail interview. "However, having two (is) the opposite. Do I want to do a search on Google China for 'Indiana University' and (get a) result of 'Indiana State University?' Of course not."\nMenczer said he thinks a negative aspect of the dual Google versions in the United States and China is the information gap they create.\n"(Google is) really not providing the same information to everyone around the world," he said. "And in so doing, they have failed their clients." \nBut Menczer said he thinks Google has done a good job of highlighting the differences. The Chinese version will tell a user when entries have been omitted, although it will not allow those en tries to be viewed. \n"I think Google is taking the issue very seriously," Menczer said. \nMenczer said he does not intend to argue about the pros and cons of the issue.\n"That's what the tool is for," he said, "to allow people to make up their own minds"