Search Engines and Data Retention: Implications for Privacy and Antitrust

16 Pages Posted: 25 May 2014 Last revised: 26 Jun 2014

See all articles by Lesley Chiou

Lesley Chiou

Occidental College - Department of Economics

Catherine E. Tucker

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Management Science (MS)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 27, 2014

Abstract

This paper investigates whether larger quantities of historical data confer a competitive advantage to firms that offer Internet search. We study how the length of time that search engines retained their server logs affected the apparent accuracy of subsequent searches. Our analysis exploits changes in these policies prompted by the actions of the European Commission. We find little empirical evidence that reducing the length of storage of past search engine searches affected the accuracy of search. Our results suggest that the possession of historical data confers less of a competitive advantage than is sometimes supposed. Our results also suggest that limits on data retention may impose fewer costs in instances where overly long data retention leads to privacy concerns such as an individual's "right to be forgotten."

Keywords: digitization, information, consumer search, network effects, privacy, right to be forgotten

Suggested Citation

Chiou, Lesley and Tucker, Catherine E., Search Engines and Data Retention: Implications for Privacy and Antitrust (May 27, 2014). MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 5094-14, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2441333 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2441333

Lesley Chiou (Contact Author)

Occidental College - Department of Economics ( email )

1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.faculty.oxy.edu/lchiou

Catherine E. Tucker

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Management Science (MS) ( email )

100 Main St
E62-536
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

HOME PAGE: http://cetucker.scripts.mit.edu

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