USA Today Takes Google To Task Over Algorithmic Tweaking of Searches

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Scot Stein criticised Google for depriving consumers of the privilege to search for coupons, which earn USA Today commissions whenever readers click links to the coupons recommended by “expert arbiters.”

Garowe (Comment ) — In the age of Artificial Intelligence, it is becoming all too common to witness a clash between the interests of consumers and businesses. In an op-ed in USA Today, Scot Stein criticised Google for depriving consumers of the privilege to search for coupons, which earn the newspaper commissions whenever readers click links to the coupons recommended by “expert arbiters.”

Google claimed that it was addressing a business problem when it implemented the update that makes coupons almost impossible to find, rendering the long-standing, pro-consumer tradition of USA Today ineffectual. What is to be done about this controversy? The timing of the op-ed might irritate Alphabet, the parent company of Google, especially as ChatGPT plans to introduce a rival search engine.

If OpenAI seizes the opportunity to allow consumers to find coupons online when browsing its soon-to-be-released search engine, Google will have damaged its business model by allowing ChatGPT to grab a market share from the world’s leading search engine. The motto ‘Do the right thing,’ which earned Google a reputation for pro-consumer service, now seems shallow if not self-contradictory.

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