Search Engine Manipulation. Google and YouTube Suppress Controversial 9/11 Truth?

[Magda Hassan]

From member Elizabeth Woodworth. Interesting article about manipulation of Google and Youtube re 911. And of course one has to wonder why? And does it happen to Beyonce?

Search Engine Manipulation. Google and YouTube Suppress Controversial 9/11 Truth?

By Elizabeth Woodworth
Global Research, October 05, 2013

Region: USA
Theme: 9/11 & 'War on Terrorism'





Let's Make 9/11 Truth Go Viral
Global Research is committed to Counter-propaganda.
Forward this article far and wide.
Post it on social media, cross-post it on blog sites and independent media. (GR Editor M. Ch.)
.
Introduction
With polls consistently showing that approximately 50% of Canadians and Americans doubt the official story of 9/11, the feat of keeping the lid on a public debate for over 12 years has been nothing short of miraculous.
This article presents a simple case study showing that this miracle is being performed with the assistance of Google and YouTube search engine interference
On September 8, 2013, the popular Russia Today "Truthseeker" program, with over a million subscribers on YouTube,[1] published a 13-minute newscast entitled "The Truthseeker: 9/11 and Operation Gladio (E23)."
Below the video frame ran the caption:
Bigger than Watergate': US regular' meetings with Al-Qaeda's leader; documented White House false flag terrorism' moving people like sheep'; the father of Twin Towers victim tell us why he backs this month's 9/11 campaign on Times Square and around the world; & the protests calendar for September.
This paragraph was followed by a list of interviewees, including four people representing three scholarly research organizations: Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth,[2] the 9/11 Consensus Panel,[3] and The Journal of 9/11 Studies.[4]
The "Truthseeker" video immediately started to gain popularity on YouTube, reaching 131,000 views in the first three days.[5](The history of the viewing statistics may be seen by clicking on the little graphic symbol under the video frame, and to the right)
Truthseeker posted its program to YouTube on Sept. 8. Russia Today tweeted the YouTube link to its 546,000 followers and to the interviewer, Daniel Bushell, that day:
RT ‏@RT_com 8 Sep
The Truthseeker: 9/11 and operation Gladio (E23) http://youtu.be/vka7Da6e9LY @DanielBushellRT
A MOXNEWS copy of the same newscast was also posted September 8 under the title "Russia Today News Declares 9/11 An Inside Job False Flag Attack!" which in turn started to escalate, with over 80,000 views in the first few days.[6]
Other uploads of the program also appeared, with less traffic, bringing the early viewing total to over a quarter of a million people.
What Happened Next?
In both the RT and MOXNEWS cases, the viewer statistics on YouTube suddenly flat-lined on the morning of September 11 like a heart monitor when a patient dies.
The YouTube search engine had suddenly failed to locate these videos.
Oddly, although the RT video may still be viewed on YouTube through its direct link (if known) from the Google URL box,[7] it cannot be accessed on YouTube by its title, or by portions of its title, or by searching "Truthseeker."
The MOXNET version was also decoupled from the YouTube search engine for a period of time after September 11, but has since been restored to normal indexing.

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Below is RT's "Truthseeker" "9/11 and Operation Gladio" reposted on GlobalResearchTV:

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How Were the Search Engine Failures Detected and Verified?
Investigations carried out independently by a US engineering colleague and myself revealed the following:
I. YouTube Search Results and Rankings:
· Searching the exact title of the original "Truthseeker" posting ("9/11 and Operation Gladio") does not yield the original RT post. It does yield other posts with far fewer viewings, but the original, which as we have seen still exists as a URL, is evidently no longer in the YouTube index.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=9%2F11+and+Operation+Gladio&oq=9%2F11+and+Operation+Gladio&gs_l=youtube.3..0l2.293984.293984.0.295154.1.1.0.0 .0.0.217.217.2-1.1.0…0.0…1ac.2.11.youtube.MvZma9CXCtY
Its viewings have slowly risen over several weeks from 131,000 to 136,000 through the early news reports but with by far the most views of all the uploads, it should appear at the top of the list.

• Searching YouTube for the URL of the original escalating RT version produces no result either, although as we have seen, the URL is still a functioning direct link. (Experiment: Take any URL from YouTube or Google, plug it into the search box and watch it come up on top of the list because there is only one.)
  
• Searching YouTube for the program's name, "Truthseeker," displays titles from Episodes 1-22, and also Episode 24, but it fails to show Episode 23, "9/11 and Operation Gladio" in 15 pages of search results.
  
• Searching for the MOXNET post on the third day of its existence (September 11) produced a similar result. It should have appeared second from the top with its 80,000 views, but it was difficult to get it to appear at all except through its direct link (if one had saved this earlier).
  
• Oddly enough, the MOXNET post is once again normally accessible on YouTube (as it was September 8-11) through a search of either: a) its full title, or b) its first few words.
  

II. Google Search Results and Rankings:
An exploration of the Google Web and Google Video search results revealed the following about access to the RT "Truthseeker" Episode 23:
· Google Web Rankings: On a search of "9/11 and Operation Gladio," Google Web first brought up several news items, followed by an array of low-volume YouTube uploads that did not include the popular original RT version.
https://www.google.com/search?q=9%2F11+a...rgA6-cgcgK
· Google Video Rankings: On the same search, "9/11 and Operation Gladio," Google Video first listed the "Truthseeker" website page from which the video may also be watched and downloaded (as discussed below). This was followed by a half dozen uploads from other sources, mostly showing 50-200 video views. The original RT video that is still available by direct link and now records 136,000 views, did not show up at all yet it should have been on top.
https://www.google.com/search?q=9/11+and...=870&dpr=1
· On both Google Web and Google Video, searching the original RT URL failed to bring up the early version of the program that had started to go viral[8] although its direct link still exists and shows up on several early September news websites.
III. The Truthseeker's Own Website:
The "Truthseeker" produces a new show every two weeks. As of this writing, the "Truthseeker" home page shows Episode 24, dated September 22, right at the top, followed by Episodes 22, 21, 20, and 19.
Our case-study Episode 23, dated September 8, was displayed at the top of the home page from September 8-11, before it disappeared.
It was then located under a different date August 1, 2012 buried on a back page with earlier episodes from over a year ago.
This may have been a simple mistake on the part of a large investigative news network that is attracting personnel and audiences away from Western networks, or it may be the result of hacking or political pressure. [It should be noted that when a September 8 2013 posting is given a new date namely August 1, 2012, it no longer appears on Google News in the days leading up to and following September 11, 2013, the date of commemoration of the 9/11 attacks. This redating of the September 8 posting also affects its ranking in the search engines, GR Ed.].
The bottom line is that at least with regard to the Google and YouTube (which is owned by Google) search engines, something highly unusual has gone awry.[9]
Failure of Email Transmissions Describing the Above Investigation
Perhaps the most disturbing element of this case study is that for more than two weeks after September 11, 2013, it was impossible for some people to transmit by email the link to the original YouTube Episode 23 that had started to go viral.[10]
An email containing this link would at first appear to have transmitted normally, for it would show up in the sender's Sent Mail. But it would not be received by the addressees including the sender, if copied to self.
To my knowledge, at least six people, including three IT professionals, experienced the failure of email transmissions containing this particular link.
Of these IT professionals, one concluded, "There is no benign explanation for this."
Impact and Significance:
1. Impact: How popular videos behave statistically
When videos start to become popular on YouTube, the statistics curve usually continues to rise overtime.
Some show an initial burst of interest, with the curve rising quite steeply, then settling into an upward sloping line over time. This may be seen with the 2011 "Ultimate Dog Tease" (145 million).[11]
Others have a slower start, then catch on and build steadily, as did the 2012 "Psy-Gangnam Style" video, the first to be viewed over a billion times.[12]
The same slow-start pattern was seen with the 2007 video, "9/11 Clues EVERYONE MISSED."[13]
Now compare these graphs with the two flat-line interruptions in the case-study videos whose progress was truncated by search engine failure.[14]
The point is that if a particular video is catching on, and people can see the excitement and enthusiasm for it right there in the viewer stats, they are apt to jump aboard and watch it. They are far less likely to watch a video with 50-200 views that has been rated "ho hum" by the viewing public.
Those who covertly study the impact of "inconvenient" political broadcasts, and who take note and interfere with them, understand these things.
2. The significance of this interference:
The suppression of free political communication in our society has grave consequences for several reasons:

• It is clear that that there is not just spying and data collection going on. There is also electronic interference in our media, search engines, and mailboxes that is suppressing freedom of expression at various levels;
  
• Media and search engine suppression can be held up for public view, while evidence of individual email tampering, probably carried out by covert state agencies, is frightening. People are naturally reluctant to report it or write about it for there is no one to report it to;
  
• In the case of 9/11, which has torn the fabric of humanity down the middle between Muslims and Christians, and between East and West it is essential that the evidence backing this event be absolutely correct and open to question at all times;
  
• The fact that the lid on 9/11 has been nailed down so firmly for so long creates great suspicion that this case study points to possible obstruction of free information transfer by government agencies recently identified through NSA whistleblowers Edward Snowden, William Binnie, Thomas Drake, and others.
  

This essay is offered to all citizens who believe the government should be investigated when state crimes against democracy are suspected.
It is further offered to all who pay taxes for government care, protection, and the guarantee of constitutional freedoms and in particular to citizens who may have encountered chilling indications of covert state interference in their lives.
Notes
[1] The number of subscribers may be seen on any episode of "Truthseeker" by searching YouTube for "RT Truthseeker." Russia Today's television outlets are available globally, via cable and satellite at: http://rt.com/where-to-watch/
[2] Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, ae911truth.org.
[3] The 9/11 Consensus Panel, consensus911.org.
[4] Journal of 9/11 Studies, http://www.journalof911studies.com/
[5] The history of the viewing statistics may be seen by clicking on the little graphic symbol under the video frame, and to the right, at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vka7Da6e...e=youtu.be
[6] The MOXNEWS posting and viewer history statistics are at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Vi5YHx...e=youtu.be
[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vka7Da6e...e=youtu.be
[8]That the original two links were going viral may also be seen from an examination of Twitter records during the period September 8-11, 2013, This can be done by searching Twitter using: < 9/11 Operation Gladio > and scrolling down through the results.
[9] Internet users have long known that the highest-ranking results appear at the top of a search. A simple explanation of how ranking works is available at: YouTube Video Search Ranking Factors: A Closer Look http://www.seochat.com/c/a/search-engine...oser-look/.
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vka7Da6e9LY&feature=youtu.be
[11] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw
[12] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0
[13] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwq04_KhCeI
[14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vka7Da6e...e=youtu.be and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Vi5YHxsLI



Elizabeth Woodworth, author and former manager of library services for the British Columbia Ministry of Health, with responsibility for the oversight of library systems database management.



Author's note: The searches discussed in this essay, unless otherwise specified, were performed October 3, 2013.

[Albert Doyle]

It's not just 9-11. Many times I find conspiracy information I used to have access to on Google no longer appearing in the search finds.

[Peter Presland]

It's nice to see more hard evidence presented on this. Like Albert, I have been aware for a good few years that this sort of manipulation goes on. It's not just excluding certain url's from YouTube search results either, there is also manipulation of the viewing stats. I can't link to corroborating articles right now but I've certainly read several claiming, with solid evidence, that particular video counters are reset and/or the stats are incrementing on a 1 for 2 or 1 for whatever basis.

It's not just YouTube either, Google results on regular non-MS news web searches are suspect too. I have found it especially difficult to find articles on Sana, Press TV and others on the current Syria shenanigans for example. Visibility of the 'right' stuff and invisibility of the 'wrong' stuff, is key when these real-time black ops are progressing. My sense is that Gen Keith Alexander and his NSA cyber-warriors have made enormous strides in securing precisely that kind of advantage over the last few years. It's another - but very effective - way of manipulating reality for the masses.

My solution - partial but better than nothing - is to use a distributed search engine called YaCy. It's a peer to peer system and completely independent of Google or any other search engine. Difficult to explain the concept technicals but briefly, you can specify the sites you are interested in and it will crawl them and store every url + summary, on your own machine. Searches also encompass the url's stored on every other client currently connected to the system, which usually number in the tens of thousands. I currently have about 10 million url's stored and it only takes up a few Gb. I don't bother with any MSM sites because Google is fine for them - Apart from tracing and tracking you anyway and I try to screw them up a bit on that by regularly deleting their cookies and using various VPN's. I must admit it is damn near impossible to keep them out of your life though ::fury::

[David Guyatt]

And, of course, it's set to get a lot worse. Here in the UK new "filters" are being introduced by ISP at the government's insistence (and to be backed with legislation if necessary). Said to be aimed at paedophiles - who can argue with that - the actual filters will also hit any subject the government deems objectionable. For example, this forum would be targeted.

British government introduces Internet censorship filters

By Mark Blackwood
7 August 2013

Complying with the dictates of the Conservative-Liberal-Democrat coalition government, the UK's biggest Internet Service Providers (ISPs), covering 95 percent of all households, have agreed to initiate a "family-friendly" filtering system for the Internet. Smaller ISPs are expected to follow suit. The government will consider legislation if the self-regulatory agreement does not work.
By the end of 2013, anyone setting up a new broadband account will have the filters automatically switched on by default, which will block all online material the British government deems objectionable. Users who wish to view "objectionable" material will have to opt in. The system will be extended to all existing users by the end of 2014.

Using the supposed threat of paedophiles as a pretext to attack basic democratic rights and bring in broader censorship, Prime Minister David Cameron declared last month, "The actions we're taking today come back to that basic idea: protecting the most vulnerable in our society, protecting innocence, protecting childhood itself. That is what is at stake, and I will do whatever it takes to keep our children safe."
According to the civil liberties organisation Open Rights Group, the filters will not just block pornography but "also restrict access to sites deemed unsuitable for under 18s including information on alcohol and other drugs, forums, YouTube and controversial political views."
The group points out that adult filtering will also be applied along the same lines. Any web site containing too many blacklisted words including terrorism, weapons, violence, depression, war, and Taliban could also find access from British Internet users prohibited. Should this be the case, the World Socialist Web Site could in all possibility find itself included on the censorship hit list.
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, who is also one of Cameron's technology advisers, has declared the filter "an absolutely ridiculous idea" and insisted that the software necessary to implement the policy would not work.
He went on: "Additionally when we use cases of a paedophile who's been addicted to child porn videos online, you realise all that Cameron's rules would require him to do is opt in and say, Yes, I would like porn please'."
Wales is missing the point. Under the new system the government will determine what is or is not objectionable on a whole range of subjects, not just pornography. It will possess the capacity to collect detailed information of an individual's filter options and generate a comprehensive database for profiling all UK web users.
Numerous Internet forums, including the BBC's web site, have been flooded with statements displaying the response of many within the British public.
"It's not about porn. Never was. What next, foreign news sites? Political forums? Social media? The day they start to censor the Internet will be the day that the revolution starts," writes one individual.
"Porn today, articles criticising the current regime next. How would we know?" remarks another.
The UK government's attempt at broadening Internet censorship does not end with the "opt-in" button on a customer's broadband account. Web site owners and bloggers who attempt to avoid the government's filter will be confronted with one of two optionsself-censorship or being blocked. Anyone trying to get around the filter will likely be identified, recorded and subjected to extensive network surveillance and online traffic analysis, and face the possibility of an array of allegations.
The government's firewall is set to block access by default to web censorship circumventing tools, such as proxy servers and virtual private networks (VPNs). It is highly likely that restricted access to the Tor software bundle, which is free software enabling greater anonymity and connects to the heavily encrypted Tor Network, will also be contained within the censorship filter.
Unsurprisingly, the Tor network is used extensively and enjoys a trusted reputation internationally as a means to defend protesters and political dissidents against the network surveillance and traffic analysis employed by totalitarian regimes. Since the revelations by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden of the mass state surveillance programs carried out by the US and UK governments, the use of VPNs and Tor has skyrocketed.
Due to the elevated levels of encryption employed by VPNs in general and Tor in particular, the monitoring of a person's Internet activities by the state becomes more difficult. These technologies can inhibit an ISP from collecting data on a person's online activities and connect it to his or her name, address, age, phone number, etc., which is why they have become so popular.
Some indication of the implications of the new filter was revealed in an investigation carried out by the Open Rights Group (ORG) of mobile phone companies in the UK, which already operate a similar system to block Internet access. In January-March 2012, ORG reported that not only had its own site been blocked, but 60 other sites had told them they had also been blocked at some time in those three months, including a number of those that lean towards the left end of the political spectrum. A full list in Excel format can be downloaded.
Together with the information made available by Edward Snowden, Cameron's latest move is a clear indication of the British state's advanced preparations to implement dictatorial rule. The working class must recognise the grave dangers that lie ahead. Rather than relying on VPNs and proxies, what is required above all else is the building of a mass revolutionary party armed with a socialist political perspective.

From World Socialist Web Site

[Peter Presland]

And, of course, it's set to get a lot worse. Here in the UK new "filters" are being introduced by ISP at the government's insistence (and to be backed with legislation if necessary). Said to be aimed at paedophiles - who can argue with that - the actual filters will also hit any subject the government deems objectionable. For example, this forum would be targeted.

British government introduces Internet censorship filters

By Mark Blackwood
7 August 2013

A good intro to where we are headed in the UK

Before reading this - and prompted by Magda's al-Libi posts - I had searched for a pdf of Annie Machon's 'Spies Lies and Whistleblowers' (currently £408 for a new copy on Amazon:: ). One of the results was the 'kick-ass' torrent site. I tried to go there and got a 'site blocked message' from my ISP (BT). I have already made it crystal clear to them - and in no uncertain terms - that I strongly object to ANY filtering, so this is NOT a discretionary block and it is now happening with increasing regularity for DMC blacklisted sites. I connected to one of the vpn services I use and got to the site thru that. However, for sure these DMC blocks are simply a dress rehearsal for what is to come and most people will not have a clue anything is being done to interfere with what they are allowed by Nanny to see.

[Magda Hassan]

A dear friend was doing some historical research very recently on the establishment of some of the shanty town housing for homeless families in Santiago Chile during the 60's and 70's. Managed to find some information on it but nothing, absolutely nothing, about Angela Davies work in this area. There are at least two large suburbs named after her in Chile of around 70,000 people each.Angela was instrumental in establishing them and used much of her own money to do so. My friend was there and worked with her and also worked with her in the German Democratic Republic. It happened. Historical reality. Try and find anything about this anywhere on the net. I'd love to see a link if you come across anything. There is precious little at all on Angela Davies actually except her Wiki entry and related pages.

[Magda Hassan]

Who can argue with that indeed David. I can. Because as I say, if you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay. If you don't like smoking don't smoke. If you don't like porn don't go to a porn site. Pretty simple really. But these are the same people that cry 'nanny state' when it comes to businesses being forced to comply with occupational health and safety. So we know it is something to protect business and not for 'our' protection. In fact even that is just the thin end of the wedge...

And, of course, it's set to get a lot worse. Here in the UK new "filters" are being introduced by ISP at the government's insistence (and to be backed with legislation if necessary). Said to be aimed at paedophiles - who can argue with that - the actual filters will also hit any subject the government deems objectionable. For example, this forum would be targeted.

British government introduces Internet censorship filters

By Mark Blackwood
7 August 2013

A good intro to where we are headed in the UK

Before reading this - and prompted by Magda's al-Libi posts - I had searched for a pdf of Annie Machon's 'Spies Lies and Whistleblowers' (currently £408 for a new copy on Amazon:: ). One of the results was the 'kick-ass' torrent site. I tried to go there and got a 'site blocked message' from my ISP (BT). I have already made it crystal clear to them - and in no uncertain terms - that I strongly object to ANY filtering, so this is NOT a discretionary block and it is now happening with increasing regularity for DMC blacklisted sites. I connected to one of the vpn services I use and got to the site thru that. However, for sure these DMC blocks are simply a dress rehearsal for what is to come and most people will not have a clue anything is being done to interfere with what they are allowed by Nanny to see.

[David Guyatt]

A dear friend was doing some historical research very recently on the establishment of some of the shanty town housing for homeless families in Santiago Chile during the 60's and 70's. Managed to find some information on it but nothing, absolutely nothing, about Angela Davies work in this area. There are at least two large suburbs named after her in Chile of around 70,000 people each.Angela was instrumental in establishing them and used much of her own money to do so. My friend was there and worked with her and also worked with her in the German Democratic Republic. It happened. Historical reality. Try and find anything about this anywhere on the net. I'd love to see a link if you come across anything. There is precious little at all on Angela Davies actually except her Wiki entry and related pages.

The Party seeks to control the present by mandating the destruction of all records of the past through "memory holes."

[Peter Presland]

In my post #5 above, I also intended to say that the potential for abusive use of ISP lists of those who choose to opt-out from filtering of sites 'the British government deems objectionable', is clear. In any event they will be available to the SIS's as a matter of routine. Pretty obvious stuff I know, but it needs saying - Opt out and, at the very least, you will be inviting increased attention by both the police and Big Brother.

[David Guyatt]

In my post #5 above, I also intended to say that the potential for abusive use of ISP lists of those who choose to opt-out from filtering of sites 'the British government deems objectionable', is clear. In any event they will be available to the SIS's as a matter of routine. Pretty obvious stuff I know, but it needs saying - Opt out and, at the very least, you will be inviting increased attention by both the police and Big Brother.

Like you Peter, I've already instructed my ISP that I wish to opt out. I didn't get a reply, so now have to question the actual reality of being able to opt out?

Perhaps we're not to be given that opportunity - that it's all double-speak?