As you know, I am completely dedicated to exploring the world of African Americans online, so I decided it was time to branch out from Black Voices, and look for other information. I did a little googling and came across an article titled "Do African-Americans Need a Separate Search Engine?" It was posted on Advertising Age a little over a year ago, and is pretty self explanatory from the title. I thought it was very interesting because I would never think that different races need to have different search engines, but apparently that is something that the Black community wants. The article mentioned one site, "rushmoredrive.com," that shut down after only a year. It was a Black search engine that was somewhat controversial because some people thought it was segregating the online community, and it was racist itself. The article explained that a separate search engine is helpful for African American businesses who target Black clientele. Also, people might want to get information that is more specific to them, and it is hard to sort through everything that comes up on Google. However, the internet is supposed to be color-blind, and maybe the issue is that consumers aren't searching for terms that will get them optimal results. This whole process is a little confusing to understand. Obviously, I don't see the need for search engines for every different race because I fancy myself a Google expert. I believe I can find anything that I would want or need on one search engine. However, I could see how it might be helpful for business purposes, but what could make a search engine better or worse? How could a new Black search engine survive when rushmoredrive.com couldn't?
What do you all think? Do we need search engines for every race? What would the benefits be? (This is a free invitation to comment, people. Don't say I never gave you anything)
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