Google omits controversial news stories

Found on New Scientist on Tuesday, 21 September 2004
Browse Internet

The internet's most popular search engine Google has been accused of supporting Chinese internet controls by omitting contentious news stories from search results in China.

Researchers at Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT), a US company that provides technology for circumventing internet restrictions in China, have discovered that the recently-launched Chinese version of Google News omits blocked news sources from its results.

Google admits to omitting some news sources within China but says this is meant to improve the quality of the service.

"In order to create the best possible news search experience for our users, we sometimes decide not to include some sites, for a variety of reasons," says a statement issued by the company. "These sources were not included because their sites are inaccessible."

Sweet world of online freedom. If Google wants to "improve the quality of the service" it should take care of all the spamming which is going on. It is almost impossible to use it if you search for something that can be sold, auctioned or cracked.