Google apologizes for results of 'Michelle Obama' images search

Started by MasterMischief, November 25, 2009, 06:32:23 PM

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MasterMischief


Jooo

I think they are right by not removing it.  Some find it offensive, some people are actually looking for things like that.  There are much more offensive things to be found with google, i don't see why this should be different because it's popular.

Paradox

That's ridiculous. It's not Google's fault that people created racist content. As a search engine, they were simply doing their job by cataloging any and all Michelle Obama-related content, even if it is racist.


"More than ever, the creation of the ridiculous is almost impossible because of the competition it receives from reality."-Robert A. Baker

MasterMischief

I agree with you, however, consider you have a young child who does a Google search for say, Spongebob and finds adult material.  Does Google have a responsibility to provide some kind of adult content filter on their website?

Paradox

Google does have an adult filter on their website.

Unfortunately, it's as simple as two or three clicks of a mouse to disable it.


"More than ever, the creation of the ridiculous is almost impossible because of the competition it receives from reality."-Robert A. Baker

MasterMischief

I was not aware of that.  Any idea how they can filter adult images?  I am not aware of any program that can identify whether or not and image exposes a naughty bit.

In my opinion, if god made all the bits, why are we so ashamed of certain ones.

consortium11

Quote from: MasterMischief on November 26, 2009, 02:13:22 PM
I was not aware of that.  Any idea how they can filter adult images?  I am not aware of any program that can identify whether or not and image exposes a naughty bit.

In my opinion, if god made all the bits, why are we so ashamed of certain ones.

This study gives a decent breakdown of how SafeSearch works and the flaws with it.

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/archived_content/people/edelman/google-safesearch/

MasterMischief


OldSchoolGamer

I don't think there's any system or algorithm or formula that is ever going to completely guarantee a Web search does not return offensive material.

As far as the Michelle Obama-as-a-monkey picture, my question isn't so much why it turned up as why it ranked first.  Seems to me someone must have found an exploit in search engine ranking ratings, and Google would do well to fix the exploit.  I don't think Google should block the image, but I don't think they should let whoever created the image jimmy the results to have it appear first, either.

As for the Muslim cartoons...why should Islam be exempt from being lampooned?  People poke fun at Christianity all the time, and Christians don't threaten to kill people and burn buildings over it. 

The bottom line is that people with a super-thin skin should probably stay off the Internet.

consortium11

Quote from: OldSchoolGamer on November 26, 2009, 07:03:59 PM
I don't think there's any system or algorithm or formula that is ever going to completely guarantee a Web search does not return offensive material.

As far as the Michelle Obama-as-a-monkey picture, my question isn't so much why it turned up as why it ranked first.  Seems to me someone must have found an exploit in search engine ranking ratings, and Google would do well to fix the exploit.  I don't think Google should block the image, but I don't think they should let whoever created the image jimmy the results to have it appear first, either.

As for the Muslim cartoons...why should Islam be exempt from being lampooned?  People poke fun at Christianity all the time, and Christians don't threaten to kill people and burn buildings over it. 

The bottom line is that people with a super-thin skin should probably stay off the Internet.

It's called google-bombing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bomb

The most famous is proay the "French military victories" one that leads to a parody of google but there's also been several aimed at political figures (notably Bush). They can be used for good as well... google bombs lead to an anti-semitic wesite no longer being the top result for "Jew" on google.

Moonsword

Quote from: OldSchoolGamer on November 26, 2009, 07:03:59 PMAs for the Muslim cartoons...why should Islam be exempt from being lampooned?  People poke fun at Christianity all the time, and Christians don't threaten to kill people and burn buildings over it.

Actually, some of them do.  They don't generally follow through on it, but the idea that Christianity doesn't have its own share of violent extremists is decidedly incorrect.  Some of them have taken offense over similar issues, too.

QuoteThe bottom line is that people with a super-thin skin should probably stay off the Internet.

Oh, yes, definitely.
Doing better now.  I think.  We'll see.

Celestial Goblin

I don't think google should be pressured by law to do something, but I wouldn't mind if they made combatting particularly annoying 'google-bombs' their policy.

Oniya

Perhaps if they could set a threshold - most Googlebombers tend to end up with numbers far in excess of what might be expected for a 'normal' page.
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Nabeshin

I dunno, I get the feeling from that wiki link that their company policy on the whole thing is a resounding "meh." Googlebombing doesn't seem to have done any significant damage to their search results, and it obviously hasn't hurt their market share. I'm sure the day a google bomb actually hurts their bottom line will be the last day it can be done.

and if a parent wants to protect their kids from dirty jokes, they can act like parents and monitor how their kid uses the internet. It shouldn't be the world's job to adjust their content to the youngest possible audience.