Behind the scenes of Google & Co: How web search works and how we can search better and safer

Life “without”? – Hardly possible: search engines play a central role today as intermediaries between content on the internet and its users for access to information. In our digitalised lives, search engines have a great influence on the formation of public opinion, knowledge and will. Internet search is of crucial importance for science, education and the economy – for our society as a whole.

For all the benefits – de facto, free and independent orientation and navigation in the digital space is not a given. One core problem: dependence on network monopolies. Around 90% of all search queries in Europe go through Google. An immense potential for intentional or unintentional manipulation is opening up in access to information and knowledge.

What alternatives are there? What can an independent, sustainable and transparent internet search look like? And what can we – as individuals – already do today to search more safely and ethically?

Christine Plote from the Open Search Foundation e.V. takes us behind the scenes of web search, shows what possibilities a European web index with openness and transparency can break up the encrusted structures of the monopolised search engine market and gives concrete tips for a better and safer search on the internet.