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I don't know how global consistency is actually useful, but I can easily think of ways it is less convenient. For example, DST starts and ends on different dat

I don't know how global consistency is actually useful, but I can easily think of ways it is less convenient. For example, DST starts and ends on different dates in the UK and the US. Which dates should google return when someone from either country searches for just "DST end date?" Someone lives in Orange County and searches for "Orange County Sheriffs," which one of the eight Orange Counties should google return? These are both examples where a localized — not even customized, just localized based on IP addresses — search results will easily help reduce headaches.

rmunn 5d ago
I wouldn't mind that one. That a man in the US and a woman in Japan would get different results for a search for "sushi restaurant" is perfectly reasonable (even if the woman in Japan was searching in English). It's when two people in the same neighborhood got different results for the same search that I said "wait a minute, they're personalizing search results now for ad-targeting purposes" and ditched them. The potential for them to deliberately hide things from you was too great.
- crummy 5d ago
  I understand the potential for abuse, but it is useful when I search for python and get programming languages and someone else gets snakes.
- mitxela 5d ago
  When I search Python I should get the programming language but when my neighbour searches Python he should get snakes. That is a valid use of personalised search.
  - rmunn 5d ago
    Good example, which is why both you and the other commenter gave it. And if that's as far as it went it wouldn't have bothered me so much; it was when conservative people I know were getting different results from liberal people for the same search terms that I started to realize the potential for an echo chamber, and decided it was a bad idea. It's good for your mental health to be exposed to arguments you disagree with. Many times they will be bad arguments and you can dismiss them, but it's good to know what the people who disagree with you actually believe. And sometimes, just sometimes, you might see something that makes you realize that it's your own worldview that was mistaken, and adjust your worldview to better fit reality. If your search results only show you echo-chamber results that already agree with yours, you'll rarely learn the areas where you were mistaken. (And nearly everyone is mistaken about some things; the person who is right about everything is a rare creature indeed, and you should never gamble that you're that person).
  - Planktonne 4d ago
    If the query is just 'python', then both you and your neighbour should get some links for the language and some for the animal. If it only gives you the one you already know about, it's a useless tool.

rmunn 5d ago

I wouldn't mind that one. That a man in the US and a woman in Japan would get different results for a search for "sushi restaurant" is perfectly reasonable (even if the woman in Japan was searching in English). It's when two people in the same neighborhood got different results for the same search that I said "wait a minute, they're personalizing search results now for ad-targeting purposes" and ditched them. The potential for them to deliberately hide things from you was too great.

crummy 5d ago
I understand the potential for abuse, but it is useful when I search for python and get programming languages and someone else gets snakes.
mitxela 5d ago
When I search Python I should get the programming language but when my neighbour searches Python he should get snakes. That is a valid use of personalised search.
- rmunn 5d ago
  Good example, which is why both you and the other commenter gave it. And if that's as far as it went it wouldn't have bothered me so much; it was when conservative people I know were getting different results from liberal people for the same search terms that I started to realize the potential for an echo chamber, and decided it was a bad idea. It's good for your mental health to be exposed to arguments you disagree with. Many times they will be bad arguments and you can dismiss them, but it's good to know what the people who disagree with you actually believe. And sometimes, just sometimes, you might see something that makes you realize that it's your own worldview that was mistaken, and adjust your worldview to better fit reality. If your search results only show you echo-chamber results that already agree with yours, you'll rarely learn the areas where you were mistaken. (And nearly everyone is mistaken about some things; the person who is right about everything is a rare creature indeed, and you should never gamble that you're that person).
- Planktonne 4d ago
  If the query is just 'python', then both you and your neighbour should get some links for the language and some for the animal. If it only gives you the one you already know about, it's a useless tool.