Brief Report: Consistency of Search Engine Rankings for Autism Websites

Abstract

The World Wide Web is one of the most common methods used by parents to find information on autism spectrum disorders and most consumers find information through search engines such as Google or Bing. However, little is known about how the search engines operate or the consistency of the results that are returned over time. This study presents the results of analyses of searches from 2009, 2010, and 2011 for information on autism. We found that over time, consumers are likely to have different search experiences yielding different results, and we urge consumers to use caution when using the World Wide Web to obtain information on autism.

Evaluation of Autism‐Related Health Information on the Web

“…While Reichow et al . (,b) and Stephenson et al . () have undertaken studies to investigate the quality of treatment information on autism‐related websites, there are no published studies that have specifically evaluated the quality of such sites using a tool that is purpose‐designed to evaluate the reliability and quality of written health information and treatment choices, such as DISCERN (Charnock ).…”

“…Reichow et al . () found that the sites revealed in Web searches using ‘autism’ as a keyword were not always the same each time the searches were repeated. Consistency of search results decreased over time, and even more so when more than one search term was used, for example ‘autism treatment’ or ‘autism causes’.…”

A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of portrayal of autism spectrum disorders in YouTube videos: A short report

“…Studies have investigated the readability, quality, and consistency of text-based Internet information directed to parents of children with ASD. Reports indicate that the content quality is questionable and readability levels are high (Grant et al, 2015; Hall, Culler, & Frank-Webb, 2016; Reichow et al, 2012a). Clinical utility of information uploaded by parents on video sharing sites such as YouTube has also been examined.…”

“…In addition, Kollia et al (2017) appeared to use the search term “autism.” While there is no best method to search for information, multiple-word search terms provide a different sample of videos. Reichow et al (2012a) noted that multiple-word searches lead to more specific results as well as greater variability across time. Additional studies utilizing various multiple-word searches may expand the video sample and deepen our understanding of online materials directed to the public.…”

Gone viral: Content characteristics and relative quality of highly shared school psychology‐related content on Pinterest

“…There is no known systematic review available, however, research articles are written with the intention of conveying the evidence of how an intervention (or other tool) has worked, not to provide step-by-step training on how to conduct the intervention itself. Regarding the information available on websites, qualitative and quantitative reviews of online information related to autism and other developmental disorders indicates that .gov and .org domains have the highest quality information yet challenges with a turnover in the content and readability for some users has been demonstrated (Reichow, Naples, Steinhoff, Halpern, & Volkmar, 2012). Even national association and advocacy websites have been shown to have some limits to the degree to which their content is quality controlled (Di Pietro, Whiteley, Mizgalewicz, & Illes, 2013;Stephenson, Carter, & Kemp, 2012).…”