Impact and development of an Open Web Index for open web search

Michael Granitzer, Stefan Voigt, Noor Afshan Fathima, Martin Golasowski, Christian Guetl, Tobias Hecking, Gijs Hendriksen, Djoerd Hiemstra, Jan Martinovič, Jelena Mitrović, Izidor Mlakar, Stavros Moiras, Alexander Nussbaumer, Per Öster, Martin Potthast, Marjana Senčar Srdič, Sharikadze Megi, Kateřina Slaninová, Benno Stein, Arjen P. de Vries, Vít Vondrák, Andreas Wagner and Saber Zerhoudi

Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 2024, vol. 75, issue 5, 512-520

Abstract: Web search is a crucial technology for the digital economy. Dominated by a few gatekeepers focused on commercial success, however, web publishers have to optimize their content for these gatekeepers, resulting in a closed ecosystem of search engines as well as the risk of publishers sacrificing quality. To encourage an open search ecosystem and offer users genuine choice among alternative search engines, we propose the development of an Open Web Index (OWI). We outline six core principles for developing and maintaining an open index, based on open data principles, legal compliance, and collaborative technology development. The combination of an open index with what we call declarative search engines will facilitate the development of vertical search engines and innovative web data products (including, e.g., large language models), enabling a fair and open information space. This framework underpins the EU‐funded project OpenWebSearch.EU, marking the first step towards realizing an Open Web Index.

Date: 2024
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