1

Ana Crisostomo student n. 10397124

Analyzing dominant attitudes towards abortion within the EU
countries through Google


Ana Crisostomo
Student n. 10397124

Digital Methods
Assignment # 3
Supervisors: Bernhard Rieder / Erik Borra
23.11.2012
ana.crisostomo@gmail.com




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Ana Crisostomo student n. 10397124
Analyzing dominant attitudes towards abortion within the EU
countries through Google

Introduction

The immensity of content available online can only be made accessible in a manageable way
through search engines. Whenever there is the minimum grain of uncertainty in what we, as
internet users, are looking for or where we would like to go online, we use a search engine.
Therefore, these entities can shape what we read, who we listen to, and who gets heard
(Grimmerlmann 940) and nowadays online search is synonym to Google (to such an extent
that Google is no longer just a name but it also became a verb
[1]
).
The current ubiquity of Google, as a search engine but also beyond that functionality, has
structured the online space, and respective standard practices, in a very specific manner
[2]
.
Google has established itself as one of the main entrance points to the web with a very
dominant market share in most countries the most notable exceptions at this moment
being China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and Czech Republic
[3]
.
A considerable amount of academic studies have been focused on search engines, and
Google specifically, as an object of study
[4]
but it is equally possible to use these same
search engines as a method instead to examine issues of diverse character which can be
manifested online.

[1]
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) added to google as a transitive verb to its content on 15 November
2006 defining it as: To use the Google search engine to find information on the Internet. trans. To search for
information about (a person or thing) using the Google search engine. <http://public.oed.com/the-oed-
today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/previous-updates/june-2006-update/>.
[2]
Already in 2007, the media scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan had stated that Google altered the rules of the
game for at least six major industries: Advertising, software applications, geographic services, e-mail,
publishing, and Web commerce itself (Rogers 1).
[3]
According to numbers from June 2012: http://returnonnow.com/2012/06/search-engine-market-share-
country/.
[4]
In Web Search Studies: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Web Search Engines Michael Zimmer classifies
the research produced in this field into 5 categories: technical foundations and evaluations; transaction log
analyses; user studies; political, ethical, and cultural critiques; and legal and policy analyses (Zimmer 508).
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The present study utilizes Google as a methodology to examine the most dominant attitudes
online towards abortion within the EU countries as, in this particular territory, Google is, by
far, the dominant player in the search industry with market shares above 90% in many
countries
[5]
(with the exception of Czech Republic as mentioned previously).
Even though the legal framework for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy is clearly
defined in all the EU countries
[6]
, it is still, nevertheless, a polemic and current topic which
occasionally sparks heated debates following controversial incidents
[7]
. The objective of this
study is then to understand to which extent the prevailing online content reflects the
constitutional reality of each country and to compare the situation between countries with
similar and distinct regulations on the matter.

Questions

Taking into consideration that the majority of the EU countries allow the voluntary
interruption of pregnancy (usually within the 12 weeks gestational period), it would be of
interest to understand if the prominent online voices in each one of those national
territories are aligned with the legal framework or if considerable opposition is manifested
as different cultural, social and religious backgrounds come into play within this group of
countries connected mainly through economic reasons.
Another aspect worth attention is the comparison between the more liberal countries
regarding abortion laws and the ones adopting a more strict policy such as Ireland (the
country with the most austere law where this practice is only permitted to save a womans
life), Poland, UK, Finland and Luxembourg in order to understand to which extent the
prevalent online content mirrors the nature of the legal regulations.


[5]
According to numbers referred in VisualEconomics: http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/2010-02-03-
planet-google-from-philosophies-to-market-shares/ .
[6]
For a map view of the abortion regulations in different regions and countries worldwide, consult
http://worldabortionlaws.com/map/.
[7]
This was the case in this month of November following the death of a woman who was refused abortion in
Ireland as reported by CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/ireland-abortion-
controversy/index.html.
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The main question within this research project is then the following: what are the dominant
attitudes displayed online towards abortion in the EU countries? This interrogation launches
other secondary questions such as: is there a pattern evident for the whole group of
countries or are there significant differences visible for particular groups of countries? Are
there distinct trends for the countries with more restrictive regulations?
It is crucial to state that this research does not aim at being extensive but to provide initial
indicators which might make visible certain tendencies worth further comprehensive
investigation at a later stage
[8]
.

Method

In order to employ Google as a methodology, but to avoid or minimize the amount of
personalization offered by the engine which could potentially skew the results in a particular
direction
[9]
, a new web browser was installed in the researchers machine (in this particular
case, Opera 12.11) so no web history was available in the same (the browser was not used
to execute any other web search besides the one for this investigation).
Regarding the query design, this was left as general and underspecified as possible so to let
the content of the results define the most prominent attitudes towards the topic. The
reference query was simply abortion from English as the master language and to obtain
the translations for this keyword, two methods were used. Firstly, Google Translate
(http://translate.google.com/) and secondly Wikipedia with English, once more, as the
starting point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion) for the localized versions of the Wiki
pages on the same subject. This double procedure assured that the most accurate and
common word to designate the abortion practice was being used in each one of the local

[8]
Some authors, such as Matthew Hindman, refer to a power law distribution regarding link topology to
defend the thesis that the online public sphere is less open than many have hoped or feared (Hindman 33).
While it would be interesting to verify if such distribution is also valid in the context of the query studied in this
investigation, this would require a larger period of time to allow for a more comprehensive analysis.
[9]
The authors Martin Feuz, Matthew Fuller and Felix Stalder published in 2011 a research entitled Personal
Web Searching in the Age of Semantic Capitalism: Diagnosing the Mechanisms of Personalization where they
conclude that Googles search results can be personalized to a relevant extent once the user is logged in to
Google and has performed a certain amount of search queries.
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queries. A list containing the 27 EU countries was set up including a reference to the local
language(s), the link to the Wikipedia page, the translated version of the word abortion as
well as the URL for the local Google domain (this table is accessible in the Appendix). The
countries were then classified according to the UN Geoscheme for Europe
[10]
(which
contemplates Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Western Europe) and 4
countries within each sub-region were selected in an attempt to guarantee a diverse and
representative sample (further future investigation may allow the study of all 27 countries
instead of the analysis of a sample).
The queries were executed during two consecutive days
[11]
and only the top 10 results for
each local domain were captured and analyzed for two sets of reasons: 1) time constraints
and feasibility of the study within the period provided; 2) the fact that most users do not
navigate beyond the first page (with the default 10 search results) which then establishes
this space, and its content, as the most relevant in terms of visibility
[12]
.
Each search result was analyzed with the language support of Google Translate and
classified according to its content connotation which would include 3 options: a pro-
choice category (results including content where the abortion was presented as a possible
option), an against abortion category (results offering content which would exclude the
abortion as a possible option; these were websites where the expression pro-life was
common), and finally one last category labeled as neutral (results for websites which
would merely introduce descriptive information on abortion either on a news or on a report
format focusing on legal, medical or historical aspects without an explicit moral or ethical
stance or results which would point to discussion platforms such as forums regardless of
the amount and type of comments made, these spaces were always labeled as neutral since
they provide the opportunity for different opinions to be heard and debated).
It is important to clarify that the distinction between pro-choice and neutral results was

[10]
The country distribution can be consulted here: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm .
[11]
The empirical work was conducted on the 20
th
and 21
st
November 2012 from Amsterdam (NL IP address).
[12]
Several empirical studies have been produced in order to establish the click-through rate (CTR) according to
the ranking of the search results which endorse the fact that the results in the second page have minimal
visibility. See: http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/blog/search-engine-optimization/click-through-rate
and http://www.fairsearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Draft-Core-FairSearch-Fact-Sheet-083011.pdf .
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not always straightforward as this classification can entail a degree of subjectivity but all the
efforts were made in order to capture, as much as possible, the primary connotation and
goal of the content provided. When in doubt, the following criterion was followed: if the
website would offer information on where to perform an abortion (either directly or via a
link to another website), then it was labeled under pro-choice.
An additional set of parameters was also used in association with the first one
contemplating options such as information (results which merely offered information),
services (this was mainly applicable to the pro-choice option as it usually referred to
abortion clinics) and discussion (as explained in the previous paragraph, this was
associated with content labeled as neutral since divergent positions can be confronted in
such platforms).
Furthermore, the main focus was directed to organic search results even though the
presence of sponsored links was registered since it can also serve, for example, as an
indicator of the local sensibility towards the possibility of advertising services related to
abortion. Video content was excluded for the purpose of this study which was directed at
content presented textually.

Findings

Prior to the examination of the findings, it is necessary to clarify that the methodology used
did not contemplate the classification of the viewpoints intensity expressed in the websites
investigated as this would require a more in-depth content analysis. Within the websites
retrieved as search results, some would strongly advocated the womans right over her body
and defend her decision not to carry a pregnancy when this was not desired while others
would label the abortive practice as a criminal one for religious and/or ethical reasons. In
between the two antagonistic perspectives, there was a spectrum of more subtle viewpoints
which can occasionally be difficult to classify especially in the cases where the content
provided followed a pragmatic style. In such situations the criterion described in the
Method section above was followed in order to obtain comparable results leading to
consistent findings. The methodology also did not focus on the order of the search results
for analysis but instead on the proportion of pro-choice, neutral and against abortion
results.
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The color coded results for the 16 EU countries analyzed can be found on Figure 1 below (all
the raw data is accessible in the Appendix).

Figure 1 Analysis of Google search results for the query abortion in 16 EU country domains

From a regional perspective, there was no consistent pattern: some countries in Western
Europe seemed to have more prominent liberal voices while in others the more
conservative voices were also equally visible and the same situation happened within the
South European and Northern countries. In this sense, the Eastern European countries
displayed a slightly more uniform tendency within the group and within the connotation of
the content found.
From a country perspective, there were 4 nations where content against abortion was not
found on the top 10 search results: Spain, Ireland, The Netherlands and the UK. These two
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Ana Crisostomo student n. 10397124
last countries were also the ones where more pro-choice results were found as well as
Austria.
There was no country where the against abortion content represented more than 50% of
the results retrieved but there were some where it represented about one third such as
Germany, Finland and Romania.
The countries where the pro-choice arguments were less visible included Finland, Greece
and Slovakia.
Concerning the type of content, the presence of services (usually referring to clinics
offering services related to abortive practices) was more significant in a set of countries:
Austria, Ireland, The Netherlands and the UK, which also coincides with the more tolerant
nature of the content found there.
Finally, 5 out of the 16 countries investigated presented sponsored results for the local
query almost all of them referring to abortion clinics except Ireland and UK where there
was a sponsored result for a website which can be labeled as against abortion. Among the
remaining, there was not a particular relation between the connotation of the majority of
the results and the presence or absence of sponsored results: these were present in
countries which displayed more liberal content as well as in countries with a more
conservative set of results.

Discussion

The analysis of the empirical results of this brief study enables the discussion of particular
trends (or the absence of them) and specific situations within the group of 16 EU countries
investigated.
First and foremost, if we consider Google to be the privileged instrument through which the
most relevant and prominent online voices are heard, then it is possible to conclude that,
currently, there is no unified collective European (or even sub-regional) stance regarding the
abortion topic.
In some cases, such as the Finnish one, the content found seems to translate the less liberal
legal framework operating in the country (the practice is not available without restriction)
being aligned with the local institutionalized reality.
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However, in other cases, the opposite happens - the most obvious cases being the UK and,
most importantly, Ireland. In both examples, the against abortion position was absent
from the top 10 results (with the exception of one sponsored result as mentioned in the
Findings section). Taking into consideration that the polemic around the topic was re-ignited
very recently following the death of a woman in Ireland
[13]
, we can only speculate to which
extent the current context influences the search results. The only possible way to identify
and measure such influence would be to execute the same empirical research in different
moments in time and to compare the results obtained both organic and paid since there
were several sponsored results for the UK and Ireland domains. Some sources do claim that
the public opinion in Ireland clashes with the nature of the present legislation
[14]
and the
online results obtained attest this same tendency.
Previous academic research has focused on the fact that Googles quality as a search engine
is assessed according to customer satisfaction
[15]
and that the search algorithm relies
heavily on the link structure of the web (Hindman 32). Taking those two elements as basic
assumptions, then the top search results would reflect a list of well-connected websites (not
only quantitatively but also qualitatively) that includes content reflecting what the majority
of the users searches for in most cases (if all possibilities for customized results are
minimized as it was the case in this study).
As a corollary of the point aforementioned, it is possible to state that, in this particular
study, Google enabled the analysis of the connection between local online content and
institutionalized national practices which in some cases revealed a coincident affiliation and
in others exposed a strained, and even contradictory, relation between legal regulations and
societal concerns which are expressed in the web sphere.


[13]
As reported by several media including the NY Times on 14
th
November 1012:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/world/europe/hospital-death-in-ireland-renews-fight-over-
abortion.html .
[14]
According to the information published in this IFPA article gathering the results of several opinion polls:
http://www.ifpa.ie/Hot-Topics/Abortion/Public-Opinion .
[15]
On this matter see the conclusion from the study Is Relevance Relevant? Market, Science, and War:
Discourses of Search Engine Quality conducted by Elizabeth Van Couvering and published in 2007.
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Literature

Offline references

Feuz, Martin. Fuller, Matthew. Stalder, Felix. "Personal Web Searching in the Age of
Semantic Capitalism: Diagnosing the Mechanisms of Personalization." First Monday,
16(2) (2011): 1-13.

Grimmelman, James. The Google Dilemma. New York Law School Law Review, 53
(2008/2009): 939-950.

Hindman, Matthew Scott. The Myth of Digital Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2008.

Rogers, Richard. The Googlization Question, and the Inculpable Engine. Deep Search: The
Politics of Search Engines beyond Google. Eds. K. Becker and F. Stalder. Edison, NJ:
Transaction, 2009. 173-184.

Van Couvering, Elizabeth. Is Relevance Relevant? Market, Science, and War: Discourses of
Search Engine Quality. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3) (2007).

Zimmer, Michael. Web Search Studies: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Web Search
Engines. International Handbook of Internet Research. Eds. J. Hunsinger, L. Klastrup
and M. Allen. Dordrecht: Springer, 2010. 507-521.



Online references

Center for Reproductive Rights. The Worlds Abortion Laws 2012. Center for Reproductive
Rights. 20 November 2012. <http://worldabortionlaws.com/map/>.
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Dalby, Douglas. Hospital Death in Ireland Renews Fight Over Abortion. The New York
Times. 14 November 2012. The New York Times Company. 20 November 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/world/europe/hospital-death-in-ireland-
renews-fight-over-abortion.html>.

FairSearch. FairSearch Fact Sheet. 16 June 2011. FairSearch.Org. 19 November 2012.
<http://www.fairsearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Draft-Core-FairSearch-
Fact-Sheet-083011.pdf>.

IFPA. Abortion: Public Opinion. Irish Family Planning Association. 21 November 2012.
<http://www.ifpa.ie/Hot-Topics/Abortion/Public-Opinion>.

Internet Marketing Ninjas. Click-through rate of top 10 search results in Google. 24
January 2012. InternetMarketingNinjas.com. 20 November 2012.
<http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/blog/search-engine-optimization/click-
through-rate>.

Landry, Tommy. Search Engine Market Share by Country. Return On Now. 13 June 2012.
Return On Now. 21 November 2012. <http://returnonnow.com/2012/06/search-
engine-market-share-country/>.

OED. June 2006 Update. 15 June 2006. Oxford University Press. 20 November 2012.
<http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/previous-
updates/june-2006-update/>.

Taggart, Peter. Woman's death prompts abortion debate in Ireland. CNN. 15 November
2012. Cable News Network Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. 21 November 2012.
<http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/ireland-abortion-
controversy/index.html>.

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UN Statistics Division. Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions,
geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings.
11 October 2012. United Nations. 20 November 2012.
<http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm>.

VE, Visual Economics. Planet Google: From Philosophies to Market Shares. Visual
Economics.com. 20 November 2012. <http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/2010-
02-03-planet-google-from-philosophies-to-market-shares/>.





















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Appendix

The file with the raw data captured for all 16 countries can be found online:
Analysis Google Results for Abortion in 16 EU countries (this spreadsheet includes 34
sheets).