I did actually! But each of those used an algorithm to decide which things to show people based on their query. They must, because they couldn’t show everything.

So since they must choose “an algorithm” in the computer science sense, but not “the algorithm” in the pop reporting sense, the question becomes “which algorithms are the algorithm”, or more specifically which features are the actual problem.

Is it statistics? Is it personalization? Is it advertiser influence? That’s the question that’s interesting to me.