| Editorial Objectivity Posted: 08 Apr 2012 12:17 AM PDT 
Should search engines be able to preferentially promote their own services in their search results? Nearly 3 in 4 people think that search engines should not be able to preferentially promote their own services. | vote | All (1226) |
|---|
| no, results should be objective | 74.1% (+3.1 / -3.4) | | yes, it is their search results | 25.9% (+3.4 / -3.1) |
There was essentially no split between men & women. | vote | Men (827) | Women (399) |
|---|
| no, results should be objective | 73.7% (+3.1 / -3.4) | 74.4% (+5.2 / -6.0) | | yes, it is their search results | 26.3% (+3.4 / -3.1) | 25.6% (+6.0 / -5.2) |
Older people tend to prefer/want more editorial objectivity, whereas younger people are more fine with search engines preferentially promoting their own services. Older people tend to be more fixed in their ways & younger people are much less so. | vote | 18-24 year-olds (338) | 25-34 year-olds (269) | 35-44 year-olds (158) | 45-54 year-olds (209) | 55-64 year-olds (169) | 65+ year-olds (83) |
|---|
| no, results should be objective | 65.0% (+4.9 / -5.2) | 76.0% (+5.1 / -6.0) | 74.0% (+6.5 / -7.7) | 71.2% (+5.7 / -6.5) | 71.4% (+6.5 / -7.5) | 87.2% (+6.1 / -10.4) | | yes, it is their search results | 35.0% (+5.2 / -4.9) | 24.0% (+6.0 / -5.1) | 26.0% (+7.7 / -6.5) | 28.8% (+6.5 / -5.7) | 28.6% (+7.5 / -6.5) | 12.8% (+10.4 / -6.1) |
Geographically, people in the south & midwest tend to be slightly more trusting, perhaps due to the lower cost of living & less competitive markets. However, any differences here are fairly minor & are within the margin of error. | vote | The US Midwest (244) | The US Northeast (367) | The US South (352) | The US West (263) |
|---|
| no, results should be objective | 72.2% (+6.4 / -7.4) | 77.7% (+4.5 / -5.3) | 72.1% (+6.0 / -6.9) | 75.9% (+5.7 / -6.9) | | yes, it is their search results | 27.8% (+7.4 / -6.4) | 22.3% (+5.3 / -4.5) | 27.9% (+6.9 / -6.0) | 24.1% (+6.9 / -5.7) |
People who are rural tend to be slightly more accepting of Google doing as it wishes, though this is also a small sample size & well within the margin of error. | vote | Urban areas (647) | Rural areas (106) | Suburban areas (453) |
|---|
| no, results should be objective | 74.3% (+4.3 / -4.9) | 71.9% (+8.5 / -10.5) | 74.4% (+4.2 / -4.7) | | yes, it is their search results | 25.7% (+4.9 / -4.3) | 28.1% (+10.5 / -8.5) | 25.6% (+4.7 / -4.2) |
There isn't a strong correlation with income on this issue either. People cared a bit more at higher income levels, but there was also a wider margin of error due to small sampling size. | vote | People earning $0-24K (142) | People earning $25-49K (677) | People earning $50-74K (316) | People earning $75-99K (75) | People earning $100-149K | People earning $150K+ |
|---|
| no, results should be objective | 72.0% (+7.8 / -9.4) | 76.8% (+3.7 / -4.1) | 68.7% (+6.1 / -6.8) | 83.1% (+6.9 / -10.2) | Insufficient data | Insufficient data | | yes, it is their search results | 28.0% (+9.4 / -7.8) | 23.2% (+4.1 / -3.7) | 31.3% (+6.8 / -6.1) | 16.9% (+10.2 / -6.9) | Insufficient data | Insufficient data |
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