Jun 11, 2021 12:00:00

Changed algorithm so that Google does not fill search results on sites that slander individuals

Google search is useful for getting various information on the Internet, but some websites may slander or expose personal information to a specific individual. To counter slanderous websites, Google has changed the search algorithm so that the search results screen is not filled with slanderous websites.

Improving Search to better protect people from harassment

https://blog.google/products/search/improving-search-better-protect-people-harassment/

Google Seeks to Break Vicious Cycle of Online Slander --The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/technology/google-algorithm-known-victims.html

Google is fighting back against exploitative, slanderous websites --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/10/22527481/google-search-results-slander-industry-individuals-nyt-report

The information that exists on the Internet is not always correct and informative, and there are also websites that post unfounded slander or personal information about a particular individual. According to the New York Times, some websites that post these slanderous content have a business that 'charges instead of removing personal information and slander' and deletes one article. However, there are cases where it costs hundreds to thousands of dollars (tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen).

The New York Times points out that not only one website has a slanderous business, but the content posted on one website may be reprinted on another site, resulting in the proliferation of slanderous articles. I will. Especially for ordinary people who do not find much information even if they search by name, if slanderous articles are posted on multiple sites, the search result screen will be filled with slanderous articles.

Following the New York Times'

report on its online slander business, Google has announced that it will introduce an approach to protect individuals in the face of recurring harassment. The new approach is to classify a person as a 'known victim' and search for other similar low-quality articles if the person is alleged to remove the defamatory article through an existing process. It will not be displayed in the results. By suppressing the display of similar articles, you can prevent the name search result screen from being filled with defamatory articles.

In fact, when the New York Times did a Google search by the name of the people whose articles were once posted on the slanderous site and compared it with past search result screens, the number of slanderous articles already displayed in the search results has decreased. It was confirmed that it was or disappeared. On the other hand, it is said that the post of the newly created slanderous site was posted, and it seems that there is a possibility that the site with few complaints from the victim is not reflected in the algorithm.

'Over the years, our approach to building searches has been part of our approach to building searches, and we do not do the best job to deliver high-quality results,' said Pandu Nayak, vice president of search at Google. We're looking for ways to pick up and improve our algorithms. ”“ Search is by no means a solved problem, and we are constantly facing new challenges as the web and the world change. We listen to feed explosions and search I'm looking for ways to improve the quality of the results. '