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It certainly makes sense that Autosuggest shouldn't pop up any "NSFW" results. There's a difference between suggestion and answering. That explains why the se

by spot 16y ago

It certainly makes sense that Autosuggest shouldn't pop up any "NSFW" results. There's a difference between suggestion and answering. That explains why the sex/curse words are dropped. But what about the racist results? That's just as verboten in the office. And talk of torrents doesn't qualify by this standard.

Natsu 16y ago
Until we can build a computer that understands English (not to mention every other language they offer autocomplete in) or convince everyone to stop searching for such things, I don't think it's possible for Google to filter out all the naughty/bad/copyright infringing suggestions. My take on it is that they're doing their best to remove suggestions that are likely to cause them trouble, particularly the trouble they might be in if someone were to make a claim against them for inducing copyright infringement. I wonder if they'd get any mileage out of changing the name? But I'm not sure if they could find something to make it clear that Google is saying that these searches are popular, not that these searches are endorsed by Google.
saurik 16y ago
I actually think a lot of offices might care about misuse of company bandwidth, and the racists searches in the article require an understanding of English (which the Internet filter you will find installed in an IT department does not possess) to determine are racist.
hugh3 16y ago
But what about the racist results? That's just as verboten in the office. An experiment: try typing "nig" in the google search box. I think the results are somewhat localised, but I get "Nigella Lawson", "Night Noodle Markets" and "Nightmare on Elm Street". But type another "G" and autosuggest vanishes completely. And talk of torrents doesn't qualify by this standard. No, but it does count as enticing people towards criminal activity, which would quite arguably be against Google's "Don't Be Evil" policy. Another thing I couldn't get any autosuggest results for: "How to commit su..."

by spot 16y ago

Natsu 16y ago

Until we can build a computer that understands English (not to mention every other language they offer autocomplete in) or convince everyone to stop searching for such things, I don't think it's possible for Google to filter out all the naughty/bad/copyright infringing suggestions. My take on it is that they're doing their best to remove suggestions that are likely to cause them trouble, particularly the trouble they might be in if someone were to make a claim against them for inducing copyright infringement. I wonder if they'd get any mileage out of changing the name? But I'm not sure if they could find something to make it clear that Google is saying that these searches are popular, not that these searches are endorsed by Google.

saurik 16y ago

I actually think a lot of offices might care about misuse of company bandwidth, and the racists searches in the article require an understanding of English (which the Internet filter you will find installed in an IT department does not possess) to determine are racist.

hugh3 16y ago

But what about the racist results? That's just as verboten in the office. An experiment: try typing "nig" in the google search box. I think the results are somewhat localised, but I get "Nigella Lawson", "Night Noodle Markets" and "Nightmare on Elm Street". But type another "G" and autosuggest vanishes completely. And talk of torrents doesn't qualify by this standard. No, but it does count as enticing people towards criminal activity, which would quite arguably be against Google's "Don't Be Evil" policy. Another thing I couldn't get any autosuggest results for: "How to commit su..."