Donald Trump certainly isn’t “winning” when it comes to Google searches, thanks to a group of internet activists who know how to game the system.
Currently, if you type the word “idiot” into a Google Images search, various pictures of Trump are the first things to pop up. According to The Guardian, this is partly because U.K. protesters used the Green Day song “American Idiot” as a theme for their anti-Trump rallies during his recent trip to London. But most responsible are Reddit users gaming Google’s algorithm by upvoting a photo of Trump containing the word.
Coming in second to Trump is British journalist and activist Ash Sarkar, who slammed Good Morning Britain co-host Piers Morgan as an “idiot” during a interview regarding her plans to protest Trump’s visit.
Trump thinks he's a "VERY Stable Genius" but these are the (mostly Trump) images you get when you google search the word 'idiot' – pic.twitter.com/t9T4BopQ0B
— Brynt (@JohnBrynt) July 16, 2018
According to reports, Google has refused to intervene in the phenomenon, saying that it doesn’t “play God” when it comes to its algorithms, adding that “subtleties of language” sometimes cause unpredictable anomalies.
In 2009, former First Lady Michelle Obama’s name was associated with ape-like images on Google Images. Instead of intervening, the company ran an ad designed to create awareness on how such a thing could have happened.
Just before before the 2016 U.S. election, the googling the word “rapist” brought up images of former President Bill Clinton.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr)
