For years Google has functioned on the principle that the more sites point to one site for a particular search, that site is probably the most highly thought of for that topic. It’s a system that has served them well for years and as a whole works well to improve the ease of browsing the internet. However, the internet is a haven for free speech and expression and some popular issues can spark controversy.
Many people of course understand how Google’s algorithm for searches works and do set out to exploit this to the fullest. In the form of ‘Googlebombs’, people can attach certain keyphrases to events or people. One particularly successful Googlebomb involved the search keywords “miserable Failure” which linked to the Whitehouse homepage during George Bush’s tenure. More recently the Michelle Obama Googlebomb sparked controversy and went so far as to prompt an explanation from Google. In previous events such as this Google has made tweaks to its algorithm to ‘defuse’ these bombs. With this in mind, is Google responsible for preventing future indexing of offensive content.
Google’s response to the Obama googlebomb was simply an explanation of why such events will occur. While the expressed points in this response are of interest, it is most important to note that Google made sure to point out that this was not an apology. The fact is that while Google can tweak their results, they are not responsible for the content of the sites which they index. It’s important to remember that freedom of speech is a right that many societies have had to fight for and Google don’t want to be seen to infringe on that.
The fact remains that people will be offended by content on the internet again and again. The fact that Google had been involved in fights over indexing of offensive sites before (most notably over racist sites for the keyword ‘Jew’) gives a clear representation of their stance for not backing down to controversy. It is important that they maintain this stance. If they were to back down over an issue, it would almost certainly be the starting step down a slippery slope of censorship. Despite the fact that there is an abundance of extremely offensive content on the internet, Google is not responsible for the content itself. Google is merely the spyglass that surveys the big picture.
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