Google’s big brother is watching out for offensive content and images, or are they?
Posted by Lauren Potgieter on 07 Dec 2009 | Tagged as: Hot off the Press
There will always be twisted people who make it their mission to spoil or deface an image or content that is not intended to be offensive. I think we all shake our heads in disbelief that this content still shows up in searches and most of the time shows up on the first page results. None of us wish to dwell on content that disturbs or offends, so many of us just move on and try to forget about it. But just because offensive content disappears from our brains, it doesn’t mean that it vanishes into thin air. The question that we find ourselves asking when the thought of offensive content pops into our minds is who regulates the search results and how do the powers that be decide on what is offensive and what is not. This question raises many opinions owing to the fact that we live in such a diverse world with different religions, political associations and sexual preferences.
One of the most recent case studies of offensive content was an offensive picture of Michelle Obama, the American President’s wife. This image, a caricature of Mrs. Obama, was initially removed by Google last week owing to the fact that “the site hosting the image violated Google’s guidelines by serving malware to visitors.” Almost as soon as the image “disappeared” (because we all know that these things do not just float away on a cloud) it reappeared and its search volumes became higher than ever. Once you have Googled this image, shift your eyes upwards to the paid ads (a feature that I always ignore). There you will find a Google ad titled Offensive Search Results. Once you click on the link, up pops an explanation in which they reiterate the fact that they do not support offensive images in any way.
Even after many complaints, Google stands firm on keeping the Michelle Obama image in their search results. They claim that they will only remove content that violates their webmaster guidelines or if they have to remove something by law. They know that this image has generated millions of hits already, so maybe Google doesn’t want to let other search engines have a piece of this pie.
Despite this, I believe that Google has taken a very fresh approach to the matter of offensive content. Below the title of Offensive Search results it simply reads: “sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree.” Those last two words form an integral part of clever advertising and it supports the well known fact that the customer is always right. They do not deny anything, but rather agree and explain.
This is not the first time that Google has been in hot water in relation to offensive content and images. So, where does one draw the line between offensive content and freedom of expression? Many argue that Google is not the government and must not act in the interest of free speech. Others believe that this image has every right to be there because if Google begins to censor certain content that is legal and does not violate the webmaster guidelines, who knows what else they will censor.
By posting this explanation of their search results, Google is watching their back and trying to be as neutral as possible. We all know that it is impossible to dictate what is offensive to some and what may be offensive to others. But does this make the old saying of “any form of advertising is good advertising” true?
