The Right Google Search Setting Omits Controversial Michelle Obama Pic


Posted by Laura Glendinning in Politics on November 24, 2009

LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) -  A controversy has erupted today over an image of First Lady Michelle Obama with an ape face.   A search for Michelle Obama will return the image as the number one result in Google if you search for her image in a certain way.

First Lady Michelle Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama

It turns out folks who are searching on Google who have turned their “SafeSearch” setting to “off” likely will not see the image in question because that setting lets a greater array of images, ranked in terms of what is likely to be desired by the user,  to be returned in the search.    Removing the “SafeSearch” setting  ends up with unfiltered – unedited, if you will -searches.  Anyone who is filtering searches, generally to avoid adult sites popping up on a family computer, will, oddly,  get the Michelle Obama image.  It is not clear why the filters being off drops the Michelle Obama photoshop “chimp” image.

From Google’s support page:

  • Moderate filtering excludes most explicit images from Google Image Search results but doesn’t filter ordinary web search results. This is your default SafeSearch setting; you’ll receive moderate filtering unless you change it.
  • Strict filtering applies SafeSearch filtering to all your search results (i.e. both image search and ordinary web search).

The image has caused a furor since turning up on a site on November 19, on which malware was posted.  The site was taken down, per Google policy.  The image popped up again on November 23, on a site whose content was within Google webmaster guidelines.

Google removes pages themselves, but also has a mechanism for requesting page removals from the search index; if approved, such pages are removed for 6 months.  The policy is defined clearly.  Their webmaster guidelines do not allow web sites ranked in their search results to promote malicious behavior like phishing or installing viruses.  However, without such nefarious activity, Google  is not going to censor results.

In 2006 Google used ad space when search results pranksters took on George W. Bush.    When a user typed “miserable failure” as a search term, the top result was President Bush’s official White House biography.

Related posts:

  1. Google Shows Backbone In Michelle Obama Controversy
  2. Google Dodges Censorship Bullet In Obama Photo Flap
  3. Murdoch Contemplates Copyright Infringement Suit Against BBC, Google

This entry was posted on November 24, 2009, 7:18 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  1. #1 by JEANETTE GILCHRIST on November 25, 2009 - 7:49 pm

    THIS IS A DISGUSTING AND HIGHLY OFFENSVE IMAGE

  2. #2 by memememe on November 25, 2009 - 9:03 pm

    its hilarious and at first i couldn't tell the difference

  3. #3 by Smarter on November 26, 2009 - 1:39 am

    Removing safesearch will also litter your results with fantastic porn images. But hey, that's not nearly as offensive as someone comparing a public figure to a chimpanzee, right?

    Here's an idea: instead of getting offended, grow some thicker skin, stop pretending you never have racist thoughts, and move on. Otherwise, America is doomed.

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