5 ms·

Google: 'We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment'

7 points by smaili 8y ago

scottmf 8y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17863563 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17863563
- paulddraper 8y ago
  Why does this story get flagged? Is it a unreputable news source? Is the articles information factually incorrect? Is it off-topic or otherwise astray from the guidelines?
paulddraper 8y ago
I'm not sure about the actual search results, but Google certainly has a bias (like most organizations, to be fair). Example: Last week, the Google doodle celebrated the 107th birthday of Ismat Chughtai, a deceased liberal Muslim Indian female author born in 1911 who wrote about gender equality and class conflict from a Marxist perspective. Her novels and short stories gained niche popularity in world of Urdu literature and in 1976 she won the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award. The Google doodle for the little known event called "Easter"? Nothing for the last 18 years. [1] [2] [1] https://www.google.com/doodles?q=easter https://www.google.com/doodles?q=easter [2] https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/websearch/RESLjNOwplY https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/websearch/RES... --- I'd like to think that their perspective doesn't affect the actual search results though.
- lovehashbrowns 8y ago
  What is the Ismat feature a bias of? How is Google biased for not wanting to display an Easter doodle? Do they have doodles for other religious holidays?
  - paulddraper 8y ago
    > Do they have doodles for other religious holidays? They do. (1) Chinese New Year (Buddhist/Taoist) 2016-02-18, 2014-01-31, 2013-02-10 (2) Qixi (Chinese mythology) 2018-08-17, 2017-08-28, 2016-08-09, ... (3) Tu B'Av (Jewish) 2016-08-19, 2015-07-31, 2014-08-11, 2012-08-03 (4) Holi (Hindi) 2018-03-02, 2017-03-13, 2017-03-12, 2016-03-24, ... But even if they didn't, it would still be a historical/cultural bias to exclude all events with religious origins. In that case, a secular bias.
detaro 8y ago
related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17859353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17859353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858906 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858906 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858874 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858874
- paulddraper 8y ago
  FYI, the first link (NY Times) went from #23 to #82 in 20 minutes. The second link (Washington Post) made it to #8 before being pushed off the front page 20 minutes later. The third and original link (BBC) was on the front page for almost 20 minutes until it was flagged and removed from results altogether. EDIT: Also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17862275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17862275 (Washington Examiner) was flagged/removed.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

7 points by smaili 8y ago

scottmf 8y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17863563 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17863563

paulddraper 8y ago
Why does this story get flagged? Is it a unreputable news source? Is the articles information factually incorrect? Is it off-topic or otherwise astray from the guidelines?

paulddraper 8y ago

I'm not sure about the actual search results, but Google certainly has a bias (like most organizations, to be fair). Example: Last week, the Google doodle celebrated the 107th birthday of Ismat Chughtai, a deceased liberal Muslim Indian female author born in 1911 who wrote about gender equality and class conflict from a Marxist perspective. Her novels and short stories gained niche popularity in world of Urdu literature and in 1976 she won the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award. The Google doodle for the little known event called "Easter"? Nothing for the last 18 years. [1] [2] [1] https://www.google.com/doodles?q=easter https://www.google.com/doodles?q=easter [2] https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/websearch/RESLjNOwplY https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/websearch/RES... --- I'd like to think that their perspective doesn't affect the actual search results though.

lovehashbrowns 8y ago
What is the Ismat feature a bias of? How is Google biased for not wanting to display an Easter doodle? Do they have doodles for other religious holidays?
- paulddraper 8y ago
  > Do they have doodles for other religious holidays? They do. (1) Chinese New Year (Buddhist/Taoist) 2016-02-18, 2014-01-31, 2013-02-10 (2) Qixi (Chinese mythology) 2018-08-17, 2017-08-28, 2016-08-09, ... (3) Tu B'Av (Jewish) 2016-08-19, 2015-07-31, 2014-08-11, 2012-08-03 (4) Holi (Hindi) 2018-03-02, 2017-03-13, 2017-03-12, 2016-03-24, ... But even if they didn't, it would still be a historical/cultural bias to exclude all events with religious origins. In that case, a secular bias.

detaro 8y ago

related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17859353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17859353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858906 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858906 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858874 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17858874

paulddraper 8y ago
FYI, the first link (NY Times) went from #23 to #82 in 20 minutes. The second link (Washington Post) made it to #8 before being pushed off the front page 20 minutes later. The third and original link (BBC) was on the front page for almost 20 minutes until it was flagged and removed from results altogether. EDIT: Also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17862275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17862275 (Washington Examiner) was flagged/removed.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]