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Google Personalizes Search Results Even When You're Logged Out, a DuckDuckGo Study Finds (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

According to a new study conducted by Google competitor DuckDuckGo, it does not seem possible to avoid personalization when using Google search, even by logging out of your Google account and using the private browsing "incognito" mode. From a report: DuckDuckGo conducted the study in June of this year, at the height of the US midterm election season. It did so with the ostensible goal of confirming whether Google's search results exacerbate ideological bubbles by feeding you only information you've signaled you want to consume via past behavior and the data collected about you. It's not clear whether that question can be reliably answered with these findings, and it's also obvious DuckDuckGo is a biased source with something to gain by pointing out how flawed Google's approach may be. But the study's findings are nonetheless interesting because they highlight just how much variance there are in Google search results, even when controlling for factors like location.

4 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    "I have FB installed on the tablet but it wasn't actively running." Yeah, it was.

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/03/facebook-track-browsing-history-california-lawsuit

    https://thenextweb.com/google/2018/08/14/google-is-tracking-your-every-move-even-when-you-tell-it-to-stop-heres-how-to-fix-it/

  2. Re:Not surprising by E-Rock · · Score: 5, Informative

    Can't speak to what that one does, but ad networks pull cookies and do other fingerprinting. So Facebook wasn't open, but an ad network cookie was there, so it could get your ID and feed it into the network. Boom, ad can now connect to you all over the place.

    It's super creepy.

  3. Re:Why woul you expect logging out to change thing by hey! · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've never had a Google account, and I haven't accepted Google cookies in about 5 years. I wonder if I get the default results.

    I would be astonished if you did. The whole point of this is that you're still being tracked even if you log out or use browser modes which don't send prior-established cookies.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  4. Re:Competitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't believe it because DDG said it, I believe it because I have done my own experiments and verified it myself.

    So have plenty of others. Google's tracking behavior is no longer up for debate.