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Google Issues Response To Racist Image Of First Lady

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 November 2009, 13:50 CST

Google has responded to complaints about a racially offensive image of First Lady Michelle Obama that appears at the top of the list of its image search.

The Internet search giant took the initiative to post its own advertisements to run alongside the image result, which depicts the first lady as a monkey.

"Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries," Google said.

“We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google.”

"Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet," Google said.

"The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results."

“We do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it," the Mountain View, California-based company said.

"We apologize if you've had an upsetting experience using Google," it added. "We hope you understand our position regarding offensive results."

According to AFP, Google also posts a similar ad alongside image results for the word “Jew.”

"If you recently used Google to search for the word 'Jew,' you may have seen results that were very disturbing," Google said.

"A site's ranking in Google's search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page's relevance to a given query," it said.

"A search for 'Jew' brings up one such unexpected result," it said. "One reason is that the word 'Jew' is often used in an anti-Semitic context."

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Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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