Google announced changes to features in its search engine on Thursday when people look up information about an election or candidate, and is updating the tech giant that was created as Americans prepare to vote on November 3rd.
One change affects the company's autocomplete feature, which tries to predict what people might want to search for while they're still typing their queries. Now the feature does not include auto-complete suggestions for donations to specific candidates or political parties when a user types something like "donate to". Google also prohibits suggestions for automatic completion of voting processes or requirements, whether they are factual or not. This means that search suggestions, for example by phone voting, will not appear in the search box for auto-completion.
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Google warns that the new policy may not show harmless and legitimate autocomplete results to ensure the company is not suggesting harmful material. Google emphasized that although the autocomplete does not show something, users can search for these terms by manually typing the queries.
"We will be removing predictions that may be interpreted or perceived as claims in support of a candidate or against a candidate, or claims or predictions about participation in an election," said David Graff, Google's senior director of trust and security policies, during a press conference Thursday.
Google also said it tries to make sure that incorrect information doesn't get on its search engine bulletin boards that sometimes appear when people search for public figures or places. These panels are populated from multiple sources including Wikipedia. However, since Wikipedia entries can be edited by anyone, there is a chance that misinformation, jokes, and jokes could be added to the Google panels and expanded for billions of people. Google works with Wikipedia and has developed technical systems to avoid these mistakes. The company also said it had set up an "intelligence desk" to monitor information on Google during breaking news like elections or natural disasters.
The announcements come as Silicon Valley companies try to prove they can avoid the pitfalls they encountered in 2016. That choice was marred by interference from Russia, which used platforms from Google, Facebook and Twitter to influence the outcome of the competition.
The changes also underscore Google's desire to be viewed as politically neutral when it comes to voting. Google, along with its Silicon Valley counterparts, Facebook and Twitter, have been accused by Republicans of anti-conservative bias, a claim that President Donald Trump made without evidence. Two years ago, the president claimed that Google's search results had been "manipulated" to spread negative news about Trump. Google has repeatedly stated that its processes are impartial.
The improvements to Google's search capabilities underscore the tech giant's enormous impact on the information people see. This dominance came with us Control by legislators and regulators.
The company has been accused of hurting competitors by prioritizing its own products, such as shopping ads or local business listings, over those of its competitors in search results. Critics also complain that the tech giant is taking content from publishers and other websites and using that information in prepared answers right on Google search engine, rather than simply providing a list of links that direct users to other websites.
The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Google's search business and is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit as early as this month. Google said Thursday that the search feature announcements were unrelated to the ongoing cartel battles.
