Google Loses Case Involving Autocomplete Search Suggestion

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Isn't this like the third or fourth time the courts in Germany have smacked down Google?

Google Inc. (GOOG), operator of the world’s largest Internet search engine, lost a case in Germany’s top civil court over how its autocomplete function adds words to searches. If alerted about libelous words that are added to a name entered in the search slot, Google has to block them, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe said, overturning two lower court rulings. The website had added “Scientology” and “fraud” to the plaintiff’s name, the court said in a statement on its website today.
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i don't have to go to google to come up with some names when you tell me Scientoloty and Fraud are keywords... so is Tom...
 
Not surprising. Germany and many European countries don't have strong freedom of speech laws like the US. They're actually a bunch of pussies when it comes to such things.
 
Start blocking German ISPs, problem solved. Germans will still find a way to use google, and they get deniability.

American companies need to stop letting other nations bully them around when it comes to their own lack of freedom.
 
Can words added to autocomplete be considered libel at all? An autocomplete entry isn't exactly a 'claim' and doesn't really fall into the realm of 'true' and 'false'.
 
I guess the judge has no clue how autocomplete works. Google isn't adding anything, merely suggesting things via trends based on what other users have input and what it turns up on pages it's crawled.
 
it's nonsense but at least the remedy isn't horrific--google must remove defamatory words when notified that they are false
 
I agree with the ruling. Arguing that this is how auto complete works does nothing to prevent actual damage.

My understanding is that the court just asked Google to be a little more responsible with what their search engine suggests.

I don't know what people like lucidrenegade and TheCapulet smoke but it ain't good for them. Rational thought is as foreign to them as the rest of the world.
 
dgz said:
I agree with the ruling. Arguing that this is how auto complete works does nothing to prevent actual damage.

My understanding is that the court just asked Google to be a little more responsible with what their search engine suggests.
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I disagree because it makes the absurd claim that names are globally unique. If this guy's name is being auto-completed with those other words, it means his name comes up in relation to those words. Either he's lying when he says he has no connection to them, or he quite possibly just shares a name with some other asshole who is connected to those words.

For example, let's say Google autocompletes "Steve Lynch" with "asshole". Does it mean [H]'s Steve Lynch, or the congressmen? Let's say [H]'s Steve gets pissed off about that, but was it really about him? Probably not, seeing as the top results for "Steve Lynch" are the congressmen. How about "Kyle Bennett" - does it mean founder of [H], the BMX rider, or the English footballer?

This is really a case about someone getting pissed off that he isn't the most important person with that name, and the court *agreed with him*
 
Regardless of the free speech angle, I don't see why google doesn't just add a bunch of words to their autocomplete filter list.

They already filter the names of porn stars and lewd words to protect the delicate little flowers, why don't they also just filters any words that could be linked to a libelous statement?

Seems like the best way to cover their arses and not piss people off.
 
Tudz said:
Regardless of the free speech angle, I don't see why google doesn't just add a bunch of words to their autocomplete filter list.

They already filter the names of porn stars and lewd words to protect the delicate little flowers, why don't they also just filters any words that could be linked to a libelous statement?

Seems like the best way to cover their arses and not piss people off.
Click to expand...

Tudz is a

gay
elephant
cat rapist
cock farmer
bologna thief
nun
brain surgeon
boner fluffer
sea captain
turd slurper
cabin boy
shark juggler
meth addict
sherm cook
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Tudz is a

gay
elephant
cat rapist
cock farmer
bologna thief
nun
brain surgeon
boner fluffer
sea captain
turd slurper
cabin boy
shark juggler
meth addict
sherm cook
Click to expand...

How on earth did you find that all out?! :eek:

*starts burning paperwork in the background*
 
kllrnohj said:
I disagree because it makes the absurd claim that names are globally unique. If this guy's name is being auto-completed with those other words, it means his name comes up in relation to those words. Either he's lying when he says he has no connection to them, or he quite possibly just shares a name with some other asshole who is connected to those words.

For example, let's say Google autocompletes "Steve Lynch" with "asshole". Does it mean [H]'s Steve Lynch, or the congressmen? Let's say [H]'s Steve gets pissed off about that, but was it really about him? Probably not, seeing as the top results for "Steve Lynch" are the congressmen. How about "Kyle Bennett" - does it mean founder of [H], the BMX rider, or the English footballer?

This is really a case about someone getting pissed off that he isn't the most important person with that name, and the court *agreed with him*
Click to expand...

Names are not globally unique. Google serves content based on whether or not you're logged, IP, cookies (all types), a bunch of other stuff. We've all seen crazy auto complete examples that we cannot reproduce. Vice versa is also true.

We don't really know exactly how their correlation algorithm works. But it's common knowledge how to abuse it. They have guidelines for that.

As I said, they just need to be a little more responsible. The guy and the court don't ask for more censorship than Google already does. Have you ever been served with crazy, even funny, auto completed query about Sergey Brin, for example?
 
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