Dileep Kumar
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The Internet went into a tizzy on Wednesday when someone discovered that Google image search results for the phrase Top 10 Criminals features pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Many took this as sign that 'Google thinks' Narendra Modi is one of the top 10 criminals, belying a lack of understanding of how online search works.
top10criminals has been trending on Twitter since Wednesday with everyone seemingly have an opinion on the subject - what else is social media for, after all.
First of all, it should be obvious to anyone that Google search results are determined by algorithms and there's no individual or group sitting at Mountain View deciding what results to show for each query. The exact search results that are shown for a query - for example Top 10 Criminals - are determined by a variety of factors, some of which have been well-documented and others that Google prefers to keep secret so as it make it tougher for people to game the system.
These factors include what text people are using to link to a particular website, or in this case what information was used to describe an image. So, for example, if a lot of people link to NDTV Gadgets from their website with the text 'The Best Mobile Reviews,' when someone searches for The Best Mobile Reviews, Google is likely to show NDTV Gadgets as one of the results. Of course, this is an over-simplification of the entire process and there are a wide variety of inputs that Google takes into account.
One of these additional criteria is the trust or authority of a website that's making the association. You are more likely to trust the review of a high-profile critic rather than an unknown person, and Google search operates on a similar principle.
Important websites - which, in turn, are determined by the number of websites linking out to them, amongst other factors - have more of a say in determining how search results for a particular query will turn out.
So, for example, if The New York Times links to a restaurant with the text 'Great Sushi in New York' and my mom links to another restaurant with the same text from her blog, guess which restaurant is more likely to show up Google's search results when you search for Sushi in New York? Something similar seems to have happened with Narendra Modi showing up in search results for the phrase Top 10 Criminals.
Back in July 2014, The Telegraph, one of UK's most reputed newspapers, published an articletitled "Top Indian educationalist accused of racism over portrayal of criminal 'negroes'" with an image of Narendra Modi as the story image. The image included the following 'alt' text - "India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi : Top Indian educationalist accused of racism over portrayal of criminal 'negroes'"
Alt is an optional attribute associated with images on the Web that was used back in the days of limited bandwidth and text-based browsers to display 'alternate' text for an image to browsers unable or unwilling to display on-page images. While modern-day browsers continue to support the setting - some will also shown the alt text when you hover the mouse pointer over the image - most websites now use the alt text to provide a description of an image to search engines like Google.
In the case of The Telegraph article, the meta text of the story image appears to contain two parts, separated by the colon. The first describes the image: "India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi," while the second is the headline of the story, to provide context of where the image is being used. This is a standard practice at many publications, and little did The Telegraph know at the time that this seemingly innocuous juxtaposition of the words 'Top Indian' and 'Criminals' will stir up an Internet storm 11 months later. Other images of Narendra Modi - and indeed other people showing up in search results - are also from articles where these words are used.
READ MORE :-
'Top 10 Criminals' Google Search Results Showing Narendra Modi: Storm in a Teacup | NDTV Gadgets
The Internet went into a tizzy on Wednesday when someone discovered that Google image search results for the phrase Top 10 Criminals features pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Many took this as sign that 'Google thinks' Narendra Modi is one of the top 10 criminals, belying a lack of understanding of how online search works.
top10criminals has been trending on Twitter since Wednesday with everyone seemingly have an opinion on the subject - what else is social media for, after all.
First of all, it should be obvious to anyone that Google search results are determined by algorithms and there's no individual or group sitting at Mountain View deciding what results to show for each query. The exact search results that are shown for a query - for example Top 10 Criminals - are determined by a variety of factors, some of which have been well-documented and others that Google prefers to keep secret so as it make it tougher for people to game the system.
These factors include what text people are using to link to a particular website, or in this case what information was used to describe an image. So, for example, if a lot of people link to NDTV Gadgets from their website with the text 'The Best Mobile Reviews,' when someone searches for The Best Mobile Reviews, Google is likely to show NDTV Gadgets as one of the results. Of course, this is an over-simplification of the entire process and there are a wide variety of inputs that Google takes into account.
One of these additional criteria is the trust or authority of a website that's making the association. You are more likely to trust the review of a high-profile critic rather than an unknown person, and Google search operates on a similar principle.
Important websites - which, in turn, are determined by the number of websites linking out to them, amongst other factors - have more of a say in determining how search results for a particular query will turn out.
So, for example, if The New York Times links to a restaurant with the text 'Great Sushi in New York' and my mom links to another restaurant with the same text from her blog, guess which restaurant is more likely to show up Google's search results when you search for Sushi in New York? Something similar seems to have happened with Narendra Modi showing up in search results for the phrase Top 10 Criminals.
Back in July 2014, The Telegraph, one of UK's most reputed newspapers, published an articletitled "Top Indian educationalist accused of racism over portrayal of criminal 'negroes'" with an image of Narendra Modi as the story image. The image included the following 'alt' text - "India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi : Top Indian educationalist accused of racism over portrayal of criminal 'negroes'"
Alt is an optional attribute associated with images on the Web that was used back in the days of limited bandwidth and text-based browsers to display 'alternate' text for an image to browsers unable or unwilling to display on-page images. While modern-day browsers continue to support the setting - some will also shown the alt text when you hover the mouse pointer over the image - most websites now use the alt text to provide a description of an image to search engines like Google.
In the case of The Telegraph article, the meta text of the story image appears to contain two parts, separated by the colon. The first describes the image: "India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi," while the second is the headline of the story, to provide context of where the image is being used. This is a standard practice at many publications, and little did The Telegraph know at the time that this seemingly innocuous juxtaposition of the words 'Top Indian' and 'Criminals' will stir up an Internet storm 11 months later. Other images of Narendra Modi - and indeed other people showing up in search results - are also from articles where these words are used.
READ MORE :-
'Top 10 Criminals' Google Search Results Showing Narendra Modi: Storm in a Teacup | NDTV Gadgets
