Donald Trump wants to 'address' alleged left-wing bias in Google search results

[Polycount]

Google has been the latest tech company to spark the ire of President Donald Trump. Today, the President posted two tweets accusing the tech giant of manipulating search results to cast his presidency in a disfavorable light.

Specifically, the President claimed Google results for "Trump News" came from "National Left-Wing Media," which he believes is an attempt on the company's part to censor and hide information from conservative voices.

Trump also claimed in his tweets that the situation "will be addressed," though he didn't elaborate further - perhaps he is considering policies that would lead to the regulation of Google and other similar search engines.

The tweets in question appear to have been deleted as of writing, but some tech-savvy individuals chose to archive them ahead of time.

Naturally, Trump's claims are a bit dubious. It's not unreasonable to think that a Silicon Valley tech company like Google would have a left-leaning bias, but their algorithms are complex and heavily driven by user input, no matter what said user's political beliefs may be.

Google's search algorithms will tailor their results to the content they think you want to see, for better or worse. If President Trump tends to click on content that comes from so-called "Fake News Media" outlets, Google's technology might start to boost such articles to the top of his search results in the future.

Google's official statement on the matter is as follows (via CNBC):

When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.

Only time will tell if Trump truly intends to take action against Google, or if he's merely blowing off steam.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/76177-trump-wants-address-alleged-left-wing-google-search.html

 

[gusticles41]

Uh oh, Trump just ventured out of the Fox and Friends bubble.

 

[TomSEA]

What Trump doesn't get is the majority of news media tends to lean to the liberal side anyway. So obviously that's what's going to show up in any search engine, not just Google.

 

[RaXoR]

He is finding out that the majority of the country hates him. The fact that his approval ratings are down the trash shoot proves that the masses will talk crap about him rather than praise him.

 

[ArdvarkMaster]

Goggle Trump and see where the first "right - wing" site appears in the results list

https://pjmedia.com/trending/google-search-results-show-pervasive-anti-trump-anti-conservative-bias/

That was the first on I saw in the list and it was about 80-85 links down. Fox News (whether you like the site/channel or not) gets higher ratings than CNN but wasn't listed in the hundred. So what exactly does "they surface high-quality content" mean when you use Google? And how does this affect other searches?

 

[TomSEA]

He is finding out that the majority of the country hates him. The fact that his approval ratings are down the trash shoot proves that the masses will talk crap about him rather than praise him.

Wrong. And I don't mean a little wrong, you're a lot wrong. I can assure you that the "majority of the country" doesn't hate him. In fact, in the red states - where he was voted in - he's as supported and popular as ever.

You know those liberal news sites I mentioned in my first post? Yeah - those are the same people doing opinion polls, so what kind of results do you think are going to come from them?

I'm not a Trump fan, nor did I vote for him. But I laugh every time I see a post like this predicting doom and gloom for anything Trump related when nothing could be further from the truth.

 

[Jeff Re]

Goggle Trump and see where the first "right - wing" site appears in the results list

https://pjmedia.com/trending/google-search-results-show-pervasive-anti-trump-anti-conservative-bias/

That was the first on I saw in the list and it was about 80-85 links down. Fox News (whether you like the site/channel or not) gets higher ratings than CNN but wasn't listed in the hundred. So what exactly does "they surface high-quality content" mean when you use Google? And how does this affect other searches?

I got Fox News as the third result and I stay as far away from Fox as I can so clearly people see different things. Though I'm not really sure how yours could be that different. You must be way more of a flaming liberal than I am and I'm pretty flaming!

 

[psycros]

We already know that the social networks are conspiring against conservatives and were doing so well before Obama was elected. Yahoo has been repeatedly busted for censoring conservative opinion or heavily editing stories in order to try and twist perceptions. Its not that big of a stretch to imagine that the search engines are being similarly manipulated but I would really like some in-depth research on the issue. Jumping to conclusions benefits no one.

 

[Evernessince]

We already know that the social networks are conspiring against conservatives and were doing so well before Obama was elected. Yahoo has been repeatedly busted for censoring conservative opinion or heavily editing stories in order to try and twist perceptions. Its not that big of a stretch to imagine that the search engines are being similarly manipulated but I would really like some in-depth research on the issue. Jumping to conclusions benefits no one.

Yahoo News is the trash bin of the internet. The comments there are disgusting in general and it's rife with bots. R or D, you shouldn't be getting your news from Yahoo.

He is finding out that the majority of the country hates him. The fact that his approval ratings are down the trash shoot proves that the masses will talk crap about him rather than praise him.

Wrong. And I don't mean a little wrong, you're a lot wrong. I can assure you that the "majority of the country" doesn't hate him. In fact, in the red states - where he was voted in - he's as supported and popular as ever.

You know those liberal news sites I mentioned in my first post? Yeah - those are the same people doing opinion polls, so what kind of results do you think are going to come from them?

I'm not a Trump fan, nor did I vote for him. But I laugh every time I see a post like this predicting doom and gloom for anything Trump related when nothing could be further from the truth.

No one really has to predict anything in this case. There's a long ticker tape of investigations and trials coming up and already more then two handfuls of guilty verdicts. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the popcorn. It doesn't matter who supports him, no one is above the law.

 

[RaXoR]

Wrong. And I don't mean a little wrong, you're a lot wrong. I can assure you that the "majority of the country" doesn't hate him. In fact, in the red states - where he was voted in - he's as supported and popular as ever.

You know those liberal news sites I mentioned in my first post? Yeah - those are the same people doing opinion polls, so what kind of results do you think are going to come from them?

I'm not a Trump fan, nor did I vote for him. But I laugh every time I see a post like this predicting doom and gloom for anything Trump related when nothing could be further from the truth.

Sadly we can't get a straight answer from any news outlet today due to bias on each spectrum. The same can be said in favor of Trump where sites likes Rasmussen show an approval rating far above than what others report. That still doesn't change the fact that he is hated by a great majority. I live in a red state, in fact one of the most conservative states in the south and I can tell you that the number of dislike/like is not a disproportional as you make it out to be. Regardless, he is getting a reality check and he doesn't like reality at all.

 

[TomSEA]

"No one really has to predict anything in this case. There's a long ticker tape of investigations and trials coming up and already more then two handfuls of guilty verdicts. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the popcorn. It doesn't matter who supports him, no one is above the law."

The only thing he's guilty of is hiring people who made bad decisions. You can pin that same blame on pretty much every President at one point or another. There's been no proof of collusion. Until there is, there's no trial - other than trial by media.

 

[ArdvarkMaster]

Goggle Trump and see where the first "right - wing" site appears in the results list

https://pjmedia.com/trending/google-search-results-show-pervasive-anti-trump-anti-conservative-bias/

That was the first on I saw in the list and it was about 80-85 links down. Fox News (whether you like the site/channel or not) gets higher ratings than CNN but wasn't listed in the hundred. So what exactly does "they surface high-quality content" mean when you use Google? And how does this affect other searches?

I got Fox News as the third result and I stay as far away from Fox as I can so clearly people see different things. Though I'm not really sure how yours could be that different. You must be way more of a flaming liberal than I am and I'm pretty flaming!

I re-Googled "Trump" and in the two hours from when I originally did that, the results are wildly different. You are correct. Now Fox News was 4th for me. I wish I had a screen shot of my original from two hours ago as at that time Fox wasn't on the list and it looks like you were about 20? minutes behind me. I really wonder how their algorithm figures these things. We always demand transparency from our government (and we should regardless of the party). Maybe its time for those who make money off are data to be transparent too.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Right-wing?? Left-wing? Center &/or leaning?
I did 3 somewhat similar searches on "trump"- and in total, I got 35% right; 37% left; the rest in the middle.

Might be a function of having a 'vanilla' browser.

I sense that President Trump may visit a lot of 'enemy' sites to see if they have something nasty to say - and he doesn't clear his history.

 

[Danny101]

All arguments: good, bad, and ugly should be up for open praise and ridicule. It is in fact the American way. Just because an argument is unpopular, doesn't make it incorrect. Truth often passes through three stages: ridicule, violently opposed, and then accepted as self-evident. To stifle debate is tyranny.

 

[davislane1]

Goggle Trump and see where the first "right - wing" site appears in the results list

https://pjmedia.com/trending/google-search-results-show-pervasive-anti-trump-anti-conservative-bias/

That was the first on I saw in the list and it was about 80-85 links down. Fox News (whether you like the site/channel or not) gets higher ratings than CNN but wasn't listed in the hundred. So what exactly does "they surface high-quality content" mean when you use Google? And how does this affect other searches?

I got Fox News as the third result and I stay as far away from Fox as I can so clearly people see different things. Though I'm not really sure how yours could be that different. You must be way more of a flaming liberal than I am and I'm pretty flaming!

I re-Googled "Trump" and in the two hours from when I originally did that, the results are wildly different. You are correct. Now Fox News was 4th for me. I wish I had a screen shot of my original from two hours ago as at that time Fox wasn't on the list and it looks like you were about 20? minutes behind me. I really wonder how their algorithm figures these things. We always demand transparency from our government (and we should regardless of the party). Maybe its time for those who make money off are data to be transparent too.

They have some type of monitoring at work and it's not limited to web searches. Literally had recommendations pop up on my YouTube a couple days ago for content I had never searched before but was talking about on the phone 30 seconds prior.

Why wouldn't they deploy that kind of tech to influence public opinion? Especially when it works so well.

 

[Danny101]

Trump spends way too much time analyzing what's being reported about him than doing his job. I like some of the things he's done, not so much on others. He might make better decisions if he would ignore the media and explain what he's doing and why he's doing it. Ideologs will criticize no matter what. He supposed to be this alpha type, but he's looking more like something else. A man self-assured doesn't have to answer every critic. Ronald Reagan had the best template for response.

 

[wiyosaya]

IMO, search results these days are just bad anyway. Many are simply bogged down with ads even though one's intent is not to buy what one is searching for. The default search seems to be an OR search meaning that if one is searching for multiple terms, one sometimes gets pages that have only one of those terms and from my experience, those sites are the ones that are most likely not to be related to what one is searching for.

In any event, government has no right to control what results are presented in a search.

 

[MaXtor]

Google tailors results to individuals by tracking your interests, to view untailored results you can search Google via StartPage dot com. (strong liberal bias)

The fact that his approval ratings are down the trash shoot proves that the masses will talk crap about him rather than praise him.

I bet you trusted the election polls predicting Hillary's landslide victory as well.

no one is above the law

**cough** the Clintons **cough**

 

[regiq]

Filter bubbles and echo chambers are a problem with global consequences nowadays, though it seems funny that president Trump got caught in a "left-wing media" one
Use private mode to get a little less tailored search results, or even better a search engine that doesn't track you - like duckduckgo.com

 

[wiyosaya]

no one is above the law

**cough** the Clintons **cough**

Right! And they are running a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizza shop in downtown DC, too!

 

[Evernessince]

"No one really has to predict anything in this case. There's a long ticker tape of investigations and trials coming up and already more then two handfuls of guilty verdicts. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the popcorn. It doesn't matter who supports him, no one is above the law."

The only thing he's guilty of is hiring people who made bad decisions. You can pin that same blame on pretty much every President at one point or another. There's been no proof of collusion. Until there is, there's no trial - other than trial by media.

Hiring people who make decisions is a huge part of the President's job. If you are bad at that you are a bad president. Trump hasn't hired poorly, he specifically selected people who are the antithesis of their post. And no, no other president has had the number of ethics violations or turnover rate Trump has, ever.

I never said anything about collusion, no idea why you are bringing it up.

Google tailors results to individuals by tracking your interests, to view untailored results you can search Google via StartPage dot com. (strong liberal bias)


I bet you trusted the election polls predicting Hillary's landslide victory as well.


**cough** the Clintons **cough**

Any potential violation, Clinton or otherwise should be fully investigated. Clinton's had multiple probes that turned up dry. If you can raise a legitimate concern, then do so. Otherwise all you are doing here is baiting an issue that's well been investigated based on your assumption that the system completely stinted those investigations in her favor. I have obvious doubts that a government under complete control of republicans (both houses and president) wouldn't prosecute. If they had evidence, they would have been on that ages ago. All I see is a bunch of assumptions in a fact vacuum.

 

[learninmypc]

Trump is conceited.

 

[treetops]

Sounds like China... I don't think anyone can provide a link to a video where Trump accurately states anything numerically. That alone could be why he hates google.

 

[Bubbajim]

I like some of the things he's done, not so much on others.

Out of curiosity, and not trying to be combative, what are some of the things he's done that you like?

 

[Nobina]

Wouldn't be surprised if this is true. Either way, **** Google.