The Google search algorithm is highly proprietary and varies greatly per filter bubble, so it's difficult for anyone to prove that they're changing anything. Bu

The Google search algorithm is highly proprietary and varies greatly per filter bubble, so it's difficult for anyone to prove that they're changing anything. But there is plenty of smoke here. The recent censoring of any shopping results with "gun" in the name, with amusing results [1], shows that they will change search algorithms in response to political pressure. There have also been accusations of censoring socialist websites [2], tweaking autocomplete to favor Clinton over Trump in the election [3], and down-ranking pro-life groups [4]. What's most insidious is nobody knows for sure what they're doing. Is it an accident? Deliberate? Just getting "fake news" [5, 6] or "hate speech" [7, 8] out of search results? These accusations don't even cover continual controversies over bias in YouTube demonetization. Many of these are mere accusations, but nobody has any idea what's going on. Just a little tweak here and there can radically alter traffic patterns, search results, and knowledge discovery. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/google-shopping-bans-gun-searches-water-guns-guns-n-roses-2018-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/google-shopping-bans-gun-sear... [2] https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/07/27/goog-j27.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/07/27/goog-j27.html [3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-google-suggestions-accused-favoring-candidate-election-2016/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-google-suggesti... [4] https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/july/is-google-censoring-a-pro-life-website-through-search-engine-manipulation https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/july/is-google-censorin... [5] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/technology/google-search-bias-claims.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/technology/google-search-... [6] http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/09/googles-new-fact-check-feature-almost-exclusively-targets-conservative-sites/ http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/09/googles-new-fact-check-fea... [7] https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/google-changes-search-results-to-conceal-criticism-of-islam-and-jihad https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/google-changes-search-r... [8] https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2017/0223/Can-Google-AI-spot-and-stop-hate-speech-online https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2017/0223/Can-Google-AI...