Search and its implications

"The Proceedings of the National Academies of Science isn't the place you'd typically go for a discussion of PageRanks and surfing behavior. But the emergent complexity of the web provides the raw material for studies ranging from network dynamics to social psychology. A study released online in advance of publication looks into how the influence of search engines is affecting the accessibility of online information. The authors are examining fears that search engines will create a situation where a self-reinforcing cycle of popularity will create an Internet in which a limited number of information sources predominate: "[S]earch engines bias the traffic of users according to their page ranking strategies, and it has been argued that they create a vicious cycle that amplifies the dominance of established and already popular sites. This bias could lead to a dangerous monopoly of information.""