Google Allegedly Manipulating Search Results In Favor Of Big Firms: Report

Google is one of the most sought after search engines. However, a new report by The Wall Street Journal shows that the company is manipulating the search results. The report accuses Google of search manipulations, where the results are favored to big businesses. However, Google is denying these allegations.

Google Search Manipulations

Google is allegedly manipulating search results when users search for topics related to business, the WSJ report shows. It says that Google sometimes prioritizes its Search algorithm to prioritize big businesses over smaller ones. The accusation makes it a strong point for the anti-trust issue, which many tech giants including Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and others are facing today.

Google is also being accused of manipulation related to sensitive topics. The report notes that Google's auto-fill feature avoids sensitive and controversial topics like abortion and immigration, on purpose. The report says that an estimate of 3.8 million queries is filed into the Google Search engine. But the algorithms are tuned to show results on a bias.

Google Responds To Allegations

A Google spokesperson responded to the allegations via the Business Insider saying, "We have been very public and transparent around the topics covered in this article, such as our Search rater guidelines, our policies for special features in Search like Autocomplete and valid legal removals, our work to combat misinformation through Project Owl, and the fact that the changes we make to Search are aimed at benefiting users, not commercial relationships."

The spokesperson further said that the WSJ article is based on "old, incomplete anecdotes" which are predated to Google's current practices and policies. The article, reportedly, gives an inaccurate impression on how Google Search approaches and improves, the response says. "We take a responsible and principled approach to make changes, including a rigorous evaluation process before launching any change - something we started implementing more than a decade ago," the statement says.

Google Faces Anti-Trust Issues

This isn't the first time Google or other tech giants have faced such allegations. This could further raise anti-trust issues for the company. Recently, Google was accused of gathering millions of health data records. Contradictory to the allegations, the company recently announced the biggest update for Google Search in over five years.