Greyson Phelan Essays - Marketing, World Wide Web, Alphabet Inc.

Greyson Phelan Dr. Lartz Writing 107 2 November 2017 Online Market Manipulation: Who can You Even Trust Anymore? Advertisements, Marketing, and the way companies and consumers use the internet has changed almost completely from what it was only about a decade ago. With the ever-growing dependency people have on the internet, companies have found ways to manipulate the kind of advertisements consumers view, take information on consumers and use it toward them, and even go as far as to manipulate search results on widely used search engines such as Google. Olivia Salon and Sam Levin wrote a joint article together for The Guardian titled "How Google's search algorithm spreads false information with a right-wing bias" that discusses and reveals how Google search results, an online information tool used by millions every day, have and still can be altered to show biased political, social, and religious result. Along with this, Mark Bartholomew published an article for the Los Angeles Review of Books titled "Hiding in Plain View: The Past and Present of Manipulative Advertising" which provides an analysis of the way social media platforms, online firms, and advertising companies all use the personal information of consumers to specify what websites, advertisements, and products they view online. How does today's digital environment manipulate and persuade consumers and their views? Salon and Levin's article is effective with their use of persuasive images and pathos by providing actual screenshots of maligned and biased Google search results and how destructive their results can be, and Bartholomew's article uses logos and ethos effectively by recounting the ways companies advertised in the past and how they have progressed to molding adds around the very individual consumer. From reading these articles, I have developed my own thoughts and beliefs on the topic of digital environment and consumer manipulation and just how severe of a problem this is not just in the present day, but in the future as well. Salon and Levin's article, "How Google's search algorithm spreads false information with a right-wing bias" highlights the very real situation of incorrect and biased search results and the problems that the dissemination of misinformation can cause for consumers which is being done by search engines, specifically Google. The two journalists go on in depth about accounts of Google changing their search results to be politically biased and the dangers this can cause for consumers and voters by having this ongoing dissemination of misinformation. Salon and Levin go in further to describe the role even Facebook has and how they created incentives for users to generate misleading content on their platform. By allowing for spaces and incentives like this to exist, these companies are supporting the practice of misleading and manipulating the consumer to benefit themselves through an online platform. Salon and Levin continue past this to talk directly about the algorithm Google uses for its search engine and how there are actually a great deal of flaws that can be and have been manipulated by politically motivated groups in the past. The journalists end their article by quoting a Google representative describing how their search algorithm is not exact at all, in fact it has many flaws in which they try to fix constantly and can be exploited by the smart few. Salon and Levin use the rhetorical strategies of persuasive images and logos to buttress their points in their article well. By using persuasive images along with their article, Salon and Levin provide picture evidence that the reader can see for themselves of Google and their disparaging search results. For example, when looking up climate change, the image was provided of varying search results coming up all around the lines of "climate change is a hoax" or "climate change is fake". By doing this, Salon and Levin are really able to open the readers eyes to the biased information they can receive from a generally trusted source such as Google. Along with these persuasive images, the journalists present logical and well thought out arguments decrying these biased results. By using pathos, the journalists appeal to the reader's emotional and human side by trying to show how offensive and wrong the information you view online can be to others. I agree with