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Google considered burying conservative outlets in search results

Evil: After Trump’s 2016 election victory, Google management seriously considered rigging search results so that conservative news outlets would not show up.

They never did it, but instead created a short-lived fact check feature that was clearly aimed at discrediting conservative sites.

“We’re working on providing users with context around stories so that they can know the bigger picture,” chimed in David Besbris, vice president of engineering at Google. “We can play a role in providing the full story and educate them about all sides. This doesn’t have to be filtering and can be useful to everyone,” he wrote. Other employees similarly advocated providing contextual information about media sources in search results, and the company later did so with a short-lived fact check at the end of 2017.

Not only did the fact-check feature target conservative outlets almost exclusively, it was also blatantly wrong. Google’s fact check repeatedly attributed false claims to those outlets, even though they demonstrably never made those claims.

Google pulled the faulty fact-check program in January, crediting TheDCNF’s investigation for the decision.

Forgive me if I remain suspicious about how they rig search results these days. There are too many indications that the culture at this company is tyrannically liberal and willing to destroy anyone who dissents from that political position.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

7 comments

  • Chris

    Bob
    Final paragraph .. There is ..to ..There are?…too many indications…

  • wayne

    I don’t generally use Google at all, but they definitely manipulate the search results for “news” on Youtube— when I want to watch Trump doing his campaign rally’s I have to search for a specific YouTube channel (RSBN-Right Side Broadcast Network- covers everything live) otherwise the first 1-5 pages of results are exclusively CNN, MS-LSD, NBC, ABC, Huff-Po, WAPO, etc., etc., etc. (i.e. Completely Fake News)

  • Chris

    A little stream of consciousness on this…
    I have a relations who have worked a Google for over a decade. They have the typical very liberal views and are vegetarian/vegan. All OK I guess. I was able to meet many of their friends some years ago. All were reasonably polite. Many were from foreign countries.
    All were very intelligent.
    One thing I noticed from several not all including my relatives is they have an underlying attitude (or belief) that they know more than the general population (probably true) but that this means they and others like them know what is best.
    This does not apply to the everyday things in our (non Google) lives but to any underlying intersection of our lives (Google to non Google) ie government and how we are governed; environmental issues …etc.
    It is hard to pin down but it is there.
    I think it is the result of many things:
    They are very intelligent and their observations of others and how they approach life and problems seems different and less correct.
    Their intelligence has brought them success.
    California and especially the high tech community is very full of these folks which puts them in an environment that “proves” their view is correct through reinforcement with others and success of the companies- these guys are multi-millionaires.
    The success and dominance of Google proves Google and the views of the Google world are true, correct and right.
    Finally their wealth allow them to “do something about” what they see are the problems in the US And the world . Noble but in their intention but sometimes misguided.

    So when things like our governance go awry- Trump wins the Presidency- they must nudge us to the correct state and help us to see the correct view. They’re helping us. It’s kind of 1984 ish.

    Apologies for the longer stream of consciousness

  • wayne

    Chris–
    you’re definitely on to something. (They live in a bubble that is self-reinforcing and completely immune from the consequences of their actions, and they get paid no matter what happens.)

    None of these people (Alphabet), have actually worked a day, in their entire lives.

  • Tony Davis

    Like when I’m watching a video on YouTube featuring any type of opinion the the sun is the driver of climate on Earth, I always get a little pop up explaining the global warming threat. Ridiculous. They really think we are incapable of discerning facts and making up our own minds. That’s mainstream liberal thought.

  • Max

    “If Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Mohammed.”

    Why ship people off to the reeducation camp when they can do it in the comfort of your own home? The new kinder, gentler, politically correct reeducation camp of the future. They control all the content that you’ll ever need to learn. Replacing the three “R’s” with racism, recycling, reproduction.
    Why build prisons when you can turn the entire world into a prison? Having fun while re-learning the fundamentals of our brave new world. Yes U2 can be a productive member of society. Utopia is just around the corner… Be the first to earn a patch, turn in someone and get a trophy with your name on it…

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