Rushmore Drive: An Ethnic Targeted Search Engine
Apr 15 2008 
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A few days ago, I found a link to Rushmore Drive, a search engine for African-Americans, or whatever the politically correct term might be, from Stereohyped in a posted entitled "Have You Been Waiting For An Ethnic Search Engine?"
Appalled? Hell yes! So does this mean Google or Yahoo are "white" or Caucasian or whatever the politically correct term is, search engines?! Since when did I start looking for search results based on the color of my skin?! NOT EVER!
Since when did anyone start looking for search results based on the color of their skin? I’m not referring to research, I’m referring to casual search results. I don’t type ‘Twitter’ into Google looking for people with the same skin color and I never would.
I was even more surprised that not only was this in the NYT, but it’s also owned by Ask.com.
From the NYT article:
“It’s a good idea, especially since it’s extremely difficult to attack Google head on,” said Michael Goodman, an analyst with Yankee Group, a technology consulting firm.
“You need to attack Google on the flanks, and this is a place where the market isn’t providing the most relevant search results.”
You’re not attacking Google at all, Goodman! Racially relevant search results are the least of Google’s worries. And relevant?! Don’t. Make. Me. Laugh.
Another quote:
Rushmore Drive analyzed search results for 3,000 of the most popular search terms in areas with large black populations and found that when people in those areas searched for recipes, they were much more likely to click on pages with soul food. Those searching for hair products, dance, cars, fraternities and sororities also ended up on vastly different Web sites than people who lived in areas with smaller black populations.
Rushmore Drive moves the Web sites preferred by black people near the top of the search results. “It’s not just prefixing ‘black’ into the search query,” Mr. Taylor said. “It’s sound technology.”
How about I sound off my foot somewhere you probably wouldn’t like it?
Ugh, this is so degrading to the African-American community. I honestly think it’s feeding into stereotypes. While the search results for certain terms such as ‘Twitter’ aren’t that bad, type in any stereotypical term associated with the African-American community and you’ll get an entirely different world.
What do you think?
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Very interesting.. I was not aware of this search engine and I agree with your take on it entirely – we should not be building software that differentiates based on skin..
But theoretically the idea is sound though if looked at in a different way – different cultures like (or search for) different things. That's why there are different cultures – so its natural that someone with a specific culture would use a search engine that is tailored to them – so it may not be ethically a good thing differentiating software on skin cokour but African-Americans I bet would be happier to use a search engine which finds them what they want rather than have to search through Google.
That was the reason I left Altavista for Google in the first place.
I think over time though this is irrelevent – Google (and the other major players) will highly likely introduce profiling and tailor its results based on your wants (or I would hope not if you dont want that to happen).
Did you watch the “What is Rushmore Drive?” video? (click on the button on the upper left corner)
If you do you will not only hate that guy but also understand that they built this search engine believing that “black people” (for god's shake, “black people”?) are victimised in our world. I mean, ok, racism is a problem in some places but using rushmore is like accepting that “it's the whites with the whites and the blacks with the blacks”…
/me opens textmate and begins building “chin-chon more, the the search engine for yellow people”… :P
Um, this is truly bizarre. Not sure if you remember but Ask.com recently announced a search engine targeted to suburban women in the midwest and my rant about the idea sounded about like yours, Corvida. What in the hell are they doing? More importantly, which demographic is next?
You're right, it is bizarre. I understand sometimes you need to cater to a
culture, but that's beyond what the point of these search engines are, and
that's what makes them so wrong. He's talking about African-Americans. Quite
frankly, I think Google and Yahoo do a nice job of catering to my culture:
AMERICA.
Yes, I did see the video. It's so ridiculous and just embarrassing!
I agree! I saw this yesterday and was wondering if it was a late April Fool's joke…I was absolutely astonished that someone would contemplate such an idiotic endeavor. How is this “sound technology”…? How has some organization not stood up and cried foul? Profiling? Racist? Just plain stupid? YES!!!
Really upsetting. Cannot believe NYT says it's a good idea. Insane!
Actually it's not the NYT, it's an analyst (I was confused on the same way).
Another question: Are latins eligible to use RushmoreDrive? :P
Thanks for the clear up. Will edit when I get a chance. lol I'm not going to
answer the last question, but if Latins will find it beneficial….
added more thought to this over at: http://www.razorshine.com/archive/2008/04/15/ru...
Well, well, well….Finally a website that specifically addresses the needs of African Americans/Blacks or whatever you'd like to call us and people are calling it unethical. Wake up America!!! Personally, I think it's a great idea and gives us options. When buying a house, for those of us who can in today's market, you don't look at one or two and make your decision. May sound crazy, but RushmoreDrive makes me feel connected, not divided from any other race. Black/White, whatever…..Most people don't understand change because we live in a routine society. Open your eyes to a Whole New World and enjoy the much welcomed change.
I'm not calling it unethical. I'm calling it moronic and deeming it
unnecessary at the end of the day. I understand where it has it benefits,
but the cons outweigh the pros of this product in so many ways.
creating separate entities, no matter how well meaning the intentions may be, is still segregation and places further blocks in the way of universal acceptance because it sends the signal that $_insert_subculture does not wish to take part in the greater whole. and what is it exactly that makes search engine results more applicable to a skin color? which parameter is modified in the algorithmn?
what is the markup language to put on a website to make it more 'racial' relevant? and how is race anything other than a sociological invention? there is no biological difference between myself and shegeeks, well except our genders, but that would be necessary for propagation of the species, so why should someone think that her search result from goolge are less relevant than mine based upon our skin color? and what happens if i go get a sun tan, do i need to go to a different search engine at that point?
what happens if i get a full body tattoo that makes me green- do i need yet another search engine to provide relevant results? somebody stop the absurdity!
Some of the comments on this site truly insane. Something like RushmoreDrive is definitely needed. It is so difficult to find research on African-Americans as it is. You certainly can't find info on Google without going to the 502nd piece of research posted by Google. It's ridiculous. It reminds me of my American History studies that failed to cover any of the triumphs of African-Americans. It's great that there is something like this out there, because sites like Google certainly make African-Americans irrevelent.
Heard that this site is geared to all people. Not sure if anyone has gone to check out the site and really done critique it before making a judgement call. For what I heard from Johnny Taylor the singer who is part of this I believe it would be benefical to African-American, but to all of Americans. Check it out and see!
This amount of animosity coming from a site that has a bit of a gender bias (She geeks)…you singled individuals by gender a bit hypercritical huh? That's the American way!
There's nothing gender bias about my site. I'm a female that's also a geek, hence the name She-Geeks. It's not an gender bias, it's a representation of the author (me). And what does the American way have to do with anything?
Just come across this post.
Sorry for commenting on an old post.
I am from the UK. we have sites like http://www.itzcaribbean.com http://www.blacknet.co.uk, newspapers like The Voice, etc. Media targeting the African-Caribbean niche in the UK.
I am sure in the US there is blackplanet.com or something along those lines.
What's you take on those sites/publications? Seeing as they fall in the same category as Rushmore Drive.
What's your take on BET.com,
From reading the negative comments I see here, it seems that you are against demographic specific media.
Personally, I think these sites are quiet empowering and offer an alternative to the mainstream media.
Even well established national papers offer workshops to helpethnic minorities break into the media industry, either through startups or through employment opportunities.
see http://media.guardian.co.uk/ethnicmedia/page/0,...
Just come across this post.
Sorry for commenting on an old post.
I am from the UK. we have sites like http://www.itzcaribbean.com http://www.blacknet.co.uk, newspapers like The Voice, etc. Media targeting the African-Caribbean niche in the UK.
I am sure in the US there is blackplanet.com or something along those lines.
What's you take on those sites/publications? Seeing as they fall in the same category as Rushmore Drive.
What's your take on BET.com,
From reading the negative comments I see here, it seems that you are against demographic specific media.
Personally, I think these sites are quiet empowering and offer an alternative to the mainstream media.
Even well established national papers offer workshops to helpethnic minorities break into the media industry, either through startups or through employment opportunities.
see http://media.guardian.co.uk/ethnicmedia/page/0,...
Ethnic Targeted Search Engine !!!
The next thing is Ethnic targeted keyboard or “Free e-mail address for white people with blue eyes”