Decoding the Algorithm: On Bias and the Work of SEO

SEO is often presented as a collection of tricks and tips. However, the real work of matching unique browsers with unique content is all about decoding (biased) algorithms (Photo Source). 

An algorithm is a formula for problem-solving. From Facebook to Netflix, most organizations structure algorithms to streamline core functions. Facebook uses its algorithm, for example, to highlight specific posts for specific users. Netflix's algorithm matches users and movies. 

Yet algorithms determine much more than core functions. We tend to equate algorithms with "big problems." For Google, the "problem" is search--how to connect people with content. For Facebook, the "problem" is sociability--how to inspire people to engage and share. For Netflix, the problem is predicting tastes (a problem many believe Netflix has yet to solve).

We also tend to equate algorithms with cold precision--pure mathematics.

However, the notion of algorithm bias has attracted much attention in recent years. Even before the 2016 election, Gilad Lotan from the startup incubator Betaworks and Kelly McBride from The Poynter Institute talked "algorithm neutrality" at SXSW in Austin. 

McBride wrote about the subject quite elegantly on Poynter.org. Her words, over six years old, are worth returning to in light of the upcoming 2020 election:

"Algorithms control the marketplace of ideas," McBride wrote. "They grant power to certain information as it flies through the digital space and takes power away from other information..."

This used to be the work of gatekeepers, McBride noted, like newspaper editors--flawed human beings, obviously, biased by their own perspectives. It was hard to hold these gatekeepers accountable because their decisions were often private. However, it’s even more difficult to determine algorithm biases.

Although engineers make algorithms make judgments based on mathematical principles, most of these judgments are exactly that--judgments, made by biased humans.

To display this bias, Lotan noted Twitter's trending topics. In Twitter's infancy, Justin Bieber's fanatical fans, the Beliebers, helped the pop star dominate worldwide trending topics. For better or worse, Bieber was what people were talking about. But Twitter's engineers tweaked the algorithm to "normalize" the content. As Lotan said at SXSW: 

"They normalized content…meaning it was much harder for Justin Bieber to trend."

McBride added: “Until he gets arrested in Miami and has to pee in front of a camera, and the video is then released. Then Justin Bieber will trend!"

Of course, the notion of bias took a new dimension in the 2016 election, and the Internet is awash with articles testifying to the damage of bias with as well as "echo chambers."

Strangely, though, you hear little talk of algorithm bias in the SEO community--the same community that spends so much time trying to decode the algorithms. In one way, the SEO specialist's job is similar to journalists like McBride and Lotan, who work to uncover bias.

McBride believes that journalists "are the natural check on powerful algorithms," and she offers this solution to algorithm bias:

"How can journalists demystify algorithms? First by observing and describing how certain algorithms are working. Then by questioning the assumptions. And finally by reverse-engineering those algorithms to force more transparency into the system."

This is precisely the work of SEO. However, the goals are seemingly different. Journalists like McBride are out to save democracy. SEO specialists are out to better connect browsers with relevant information.

However, as the SEO specialist works to "decode," he is working as a journalist by trying to make the Internet more democratic--a place where Google's top page is not only dominated by mega-sites like Amazon, a place where those who create relevant, high-quality content can attract the audience they deserve. 

SEO Sparta has worked with many businesses throughout the Philadelphia region who sell high-quality products yet have yet to attract the audience they deserve. By decoding the algorithms for these businesses, however, we have often helped to change business trajectories--from failure to success.

Unfortunately, many business owners believe in the algorithm bias--and often to the extent that they believe SEO is pointless. What's the point when the algorithm is biased towards the websites with more money and fame? The best answer to this thinking, which itself is a bias, is to present the work of SEO as clearly and simply as possible. 

If you are interested in transforming your website into a money-making tool or are interested in exploring opportunities to outperform your competition, we encourage you to contact SEO SPARTA.

We combine traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--emphasizing natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective marketing campaigns.

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