Sometimes when Google Search gets it wrong, it gets it wrong spectacularly. Recently, users searching the phrase “define an English person” have been receiving a very surprising and possibly offensive first-result, reports ZDNet.
We’ll give you a clue. It’s often described as the most offensive word in the English language and rhymes with Ireland’s ceded currency, the Punt.
Since Google Search is an impartial service, there are two possible explanations for this. This is simply a ranking ‘glitch’, or as Google puts it a “bad case of ranking”. The second and more plausible explanation introduces a process known as ‘Google-bombing’. As the name suggests, it’s not a favourable practice.
Google-bombing involves fraudulently creating huge numbers of links to certain pages in order to artificially rank them higher than others. This practice can be used on specific terms – in this case “define” and “English person”.
The glitch works on google.ie, google.co.uk and google.com. Go on, try it for yourself before it’s corrected.
Union Jack image courtesy of adactio on Flickr.
The 'Materials and Consumption Taskforce' is an attempt to micro-manage all aspects of your life:…
Talent in the tech industry has long been a hot commodity. Yet in today's world,…
In an ideal scenario, professionals in 2025 should be able to leverage a personal suite…
In a fusion of tradition and technology, Japanese tech firm NTT unveiled the capabilities of…
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) finalizes its "Recommendation on the Ethics…
The dead internet theory is a conspiracy theory that goes: Most of the content we…