Targeted advertising and the black box mystery

The three final chapters of the work lead us to the heart of the functioning of the Google machine. In them Alain Strowel tackles the challenges set by the pay for service AdWorlds, referencing and the use of personal data.

5. AdWords. Each request launched from the Google search engine search bar takes us to a page on which so-called ‘organic’ results rub shoulders with advertising links – which appear in a very visible manner in the right hand margin and/or above the results -   targeted according to keywords used to carry out the aforementioned search.  97% of Google’s income comes from the sale of these keywords (or AdWords) to advertisers, enabling the launching of advertisements for their products or services. Google authorises the purchase of competing brands, in particular to permit the conditions of the possibility of comparative advertising and, therefore, of fair competition to be met. But how, in such a set-up, can unfair practices be limited, for example when counterfeit products are promoted thanks to advertising links launched by requests for the brands on view? In France, over fifty cases have led to legal decisions being taken. The Luis Vuitton luxury leather house thus took out legal proceedings against Google after having noted that a search request using the words ‘Vuitton,’ ‘Louis Vuitton’ and ‘L & V’ generated commercial links towards companies offering imitations of Vuitton products for sale. In the face of these proceedings for violation of trademark rights, the European Court of Justice did not accept that Google was directly responsible brand right infringement, as Google was acting as an intermediary. Advertisers can on the other hand be directly responsible, in particular if the way they write up the advertisement (in other words the ‘advertising link’ visible on the results page) leads to confusion on the part of internet users. ‘Certain of Google’s practices in terms of selling keywords are a little aggressive all the same,’ adds Alain Strowel. ‘Through its keyword generator, Google suggests and encourages the purchase of words relating to brands. For example when an advertiser buys ‘leather bag’ as a keyword, the generator can also suggest that it buy the keywords ‘Delvaux’ or ‘Prada.’ In such a case one could wonder if Google might be responsible for brand infringement. It still remains for the appropriate courts to pronounce judgements on putting into practice the principles defined by the European Court of Justice.’

 6. Google: internet guardian and bottleneck. The sixth chapter analyses the challenges posed by the Californian giant’s dominant position in the online search market. In it Alain Strowel broaches the sensitive problematic of information filtering systems by bringing to the surface more mysterious facets of the Google machine. ‘The main problem raised here is that on a results page users receive a mix of information, some of which is in principle objective – the organic results - and the advertising links, which are sponsored. For the average internet user the borderline between these two types of information is not necessarily discernable. In France, for example, Google has moreover slightly modified the heading of its advertising spaces – the ‘sponsored links’ have become ‘advertising links’ – with the aim of providing clarity for internet users.’ The big grey area of the Google machine remains the algorithm black box used to generate the ranking results of a given search (or PageRank), as its make-up remains a total mystery. Some 300 criteria are thought to be mobilised to arrange the classification of the search engine’s results pages. But whereas Google is happy to wave the banner of ‘everything available to everyone’ and wants to appear as open as the internet, the firm has an extreme confidentiality stance concerning the criteria which govern the results rankings. The same goes for AdRank, the system for classifying advertisements. Shouldn’t users demand greater transparency in order to know by which criteria the organic results are ranked? For Alain Strowel ‘a new transparency needs to be established if we wish to retain the promises of internet democracy. Through its bottleneck effects, a filtering system such as Google’s risks preventing certain slightly more marginal statements from being expressed. Access to this filter should be authorised so that the public authorities can analyse and monitor its effects.’