Biased Search Engines and “Web Enlightenment”

Search engines are a crucial part of the Web’s architecture. They open the gates to the Web’s universe of information and operate as guides through the paths of the network. But what if the guide you are depending on is biased in what sites he will show you? That would indicate a flaw in the Web’s ideology of openness and informativeness.
An interesting article by Susan Gerhart in First Monday asks whether Web engines suppress controversy. She suggests that simple queries tend to overly present the "sunny side" of these topics, with minimal controversy. Certainly, “search advice” literature exists and offers some key rules to compensate for those deficiencies. But consumer surveys about paid placement in search results reinforce a common theme: The general public that is growing increasingly dependent upon search engine technology has relatively low understanding of how the technology works or their responsibilities for its proper use.
Even more challenging than technological remedy - search engines might alter their ranking strategies to provide more openness to the "Analytic Web" (controversy, data, evaluation, and detail) instead of favoring the “organizational” content - may be the change in the social practice to use the Web: whereas the searchers may apply more wary multi-searching in the future, Web authors could contribute to a more obective or, at least, diverse Web by adopting reasearch citation practices.
Having experienced the digital revolution we may need a “Web Enlightenment”!