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Trump Accuses Google of Rigging Search Results To Favor 'Bad' News About Him (cnet.com)

President Donald Trump says Google search results for "Trump News" show only negative coverage about him. From a report: The results present "only the viewing/reporting of Fake New (sic) Media," the president tweeted early Tuesday. He said it's a "very serious situation" that "will be addressed!" "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of ... " he wrote in the first of two tweets at 5:24 a.m. ET. Update: White House probes Google after Trump accuses it of bias.

46 of 1,024 comments (clear)

  1. Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The simplest explanation is probably the true one. Conspiracies are rarely the simplest explanation.

    1. Re: Occam's Razor by SirSlud · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anything not that's not sychophantic is liberal to you yokels.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    2. Re:Occam's Razor by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seeing as 96 percent of google search results about Trump come from liberal media outlets

      You may wish to rethink you naive view of this.

      If you apply some critical thinking then the results make sense. You have most of the entire English literate world using Google, not just the US. Very few outside the US think US conservative media outlets are reputable and therefore avoid them. Google ranking is a convoluted feedback loop so you inevitably are going to end up with results people look at which aren't US conservative media outlets.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    3. Re:Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are a lot of reasons this can happen. Google ranks pages higher when they are shared / linked to more often. Google is not "neutral" in the fact that they let more popular pages rise to the top. Not being neutral in that respect is what made them what they are vs. search engines that only rank on keywords - it weeds out spam. But not being neutral is not the same as intentional bias.

    4. Re:Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Re-posting a link to a conservative news source is not a refutation. They told you what trends in worldwide traffic might be driving the popularity of less conservative news sources and this is not an argument against that.

    5. Re: Occam's Razor by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That would be the problem with people at the political extremes. They are so far to their own side that everything else looks far left or far right by comparison.

      I think that these people tend to be the noisiest as well, which makes those extremes appear far larger or more important than they really are.

    6. Re:Occam's Razor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Fox is #1 because it's basically the only conservative news outlet. If you add up every other news outlet it far exceeds Fox viewership.

      CNN can't beat ancient aliens on the history channel

      And now you know how someone like Donald Trump gets elected in the first place.

    7. Re: Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 3, Insightful

      95% of the country is urban or suburban.

      Have you been to most of this country?

    8. Re: Occam's Razor by Q-Hack! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      LOL you know something like 95% of the country is urban or suburban.

      Someone has never been to the midwest.

      --
      Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    9. Re:Occam's Razor by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Google's search results are also influenced by how many other sites link to a given article. Theory being that well linked articles are considered good by other people. When offering up evidence people tend to link to sources with a reputation for impartiality (aka "extreme far left bias").

      Google weights links from less reputable sites lower too, so all those blogs and forum links don't really help Trump supporting sites.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    10. Re:Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You do realize Google customizes its search results by the location the query is submitted from ?

      For local matters, yes. News is certainly more regional and national news tends to take precedence over regional news when it comes to national matters.

      But that just gives extra weight to the location of the site (or its intended target area). It doesn't change its relative importance on the Internet in the rest of their algorithm. It would make no sense to do anything beyond that with location information. If web sites worldwide are linking to a web site its overall relative importance is still going to be much higher.

    11. Re: Occam's Razor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Anything not that's not sychophantic is liberal to you yokels.

      The Trump2020 Campaign would like to take this opportunity to thank you for driving even more voters to Trump and the Republican Party with your display of virulent, raw hatred & contempt for half of the nation.

      Bravo, Sir, bravo!!

      MAGA! Trump2020

    12. Re:Occam's Razor by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most media outlets are rather centrist. However we have a President treating the presidency like a Reality TV Show, and not government.
      So every time he has a temper tantrum, or trolls on twitter, the Media needs to call him out on this for clarification. However he doesn't want to answer the tough questions. So it leads his intentions up to interpretations.

      While I am all for an open government, A presidents internal monologue shouldn't be broadcasted. Because it distracts from the issues at hand, and less on substance we are focusing on intent.

      Trump is doing it to himself. Sure some site may be left leaning, however even most left leaning site will not go out of the way to to hinder the president unless they feel what he is doing is that wrong.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    13. Re:Occam's Razor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What percentage of google search results about Hillary does come or came from conservative media outlets?
      Depending on the political bent of a media outlet they probably cover a lot more ground reporting negative things about their opponents. And now since Hillary isn't as important than the actual President you shouldn't be surprised that Trump gets a lot more exposure.

      Other than that, yes, google can be biased. But they're a private corporation. They have the same right to be biased as other private corporations like FOX or Breitbart. The First Amendment gives them that right.

      If Trump doesn't like that, he's free to have his friends come up with a conservative answer to google.

    14. Re:Occam's Razor by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The president will get negative press no matter what.
      Sometimes it will be partisan, sometimes it is just based on fact.
      For the news, Pain sells, so the president will be shown for all his mistakes over the successes.
      We need a responsible adult to realize that, and move forward.

      Being President of the United States is the worlds most thankless job.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    15. Re:Occam's Razor by dave420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm sure you'd love that to be the reason, and not the fact that the loudest conservative media outlets in the US are demonstrably terrible at being actual media outlets. Those media outlets do it to themselves with their constant bullshitting and scaremongering.

    16. Re: Occam's Razor by infolation · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yet... Trump's tweet has achieved its goal.

      Up until his tweet today, Google's first page of results for 'Trump News' did indeed return 'only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media.'

      But since Trump's tweet that crucial first page is now 100% news about his tweet, replacing the voice of the news with noise from Trump.

    17. Re:Occam's Razor by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Very few outside the US think US conservative media outlets are reputable"

      And one significant reason for this is the relentless and universal portrayal of US conservative media outlets as disreputable by the US Leftist media.

      Sorry, but no. By European standards, Fox News is a conspiracy theorist right-wing tabloid. Pretty much every Fox News opinion host is perceived as a populist, fear-mongering, right-wing extremist. We form this opinion based on our own cognitive abilities and critical thinking skills - no "leftist media" required.

    18. Re: Occam's Razor by kqs · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yup, left wing media constantly smears Trump

      It is completely impossible for anyone to smear Trump more than his own tweets and speeches.

    19. Re: Occam's Razor by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That would be the problem with people at the political extremes. They are so far to their own side that everything else looks far left or far right by comparison.

      I think that these people tend to be the noisiest as well, which makes those extremes appear far larger or more important than they really are.

      That is indeed a huge issue nobody in the US except a very few seem to acknowledge. Conservatism and traditional values in the US have gone to shit.
      The US had a conservative president who embodied traditional values. He was a married, religious family man from the middle-class with a spotless political career and social engagement, he reached out to the opposition party to move forward on bipartisan issues... but conservatives hated him because he was a Democrat and he was black.

      Now the US has a "conservative" president who was divorced two times, he did not serve in the military or a political career, has had various affairs with porn stars and models, grew up as an entitled rich-kid, frequently disrespects women with sexually charged commentary and is so self-centered that he spends most of his days checking what people are saying about him on the news... but conservatives love him because.... I don't know. He's as morally depraved as they are?

      There was time of real Republican conservatism as embodied by the likes of senator John McCain. This conservatism cared about the middle-class and lower incomes, about traditional family values and also about international alliances, fairness towards partners, the rule of law, honoring treaties and also listening to facts and reason.

      That Republican party is no more. It has been hijacked by the right-wing populists who push agendas and fake news (all the while accusing their opponents of doing exactly that in attempt to muddle the minds by pulling everyone else to their low standards). It has solemnly sacrificed logic, reason and the traditional values for some kind of modern, right-wing dadaism that rejects all social norms and values.
      The current president and his favorite news channel (Fox) embodies this state that conservatism has morphed into, perfectly.

      What I don't understand is, why nobody in conservative America is standing up to all of this bullshit. John McCain was, and now he's dead.

    20. Re: Occam's Razor by doggo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Many of these people are the same people who give money to prosperity ministries.

      Rubes. Yokels. Marks. Suckers. Dupes. Chumps.

      Trump is playing them for the fools they are. He's not conservative, he's a damn con man & thief.

    21. Re: Occam's Razor by doggo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The point is, there are more people (voters) in a neighborhood in Chicago than in the entire state of Wyoming or Idaho.

      For example, Illinios has a population of 12.8 million. The Chicago metro area has a population of 9.5 million.

      Why should policies that affect a huge cosmopolitan urban population be driven by a handful of retrograde hicks who consistently vote against their own best interests.

    22. Re:Occam's Razor by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What about George W Bush in the middle of that?
      or George H Bush before
      Ronald Regan
      Jimmy Carter
      Harold Ford
      Richard Nixon

      The president being an elected official, will take opportunity to be in the spotlight, but that is different from being a Reality Star.
      Obama had star status, I bet he loved it too, but he kept it under control and used it to actually lower the drama, with self deprecating humor.

      Presidents have been unofficial entertainers from the TV era onward. But it wasn't a daily dose of scandal and scorn.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    23. Re: Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The only thing mainstream conservatism conserves is the wealth of the wealthy.

    24. Re: Occam's Razor by omnichad · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The policies that help a huge cosmopolitan area typically not that well thought out for people in the less populated areas. Many of the social safety nets that are there to help people in overpopulated areas do not properly help people in lower cost of living areas.

      handful of retrograde hicks

      You really don't know that many rural people. I grew up in a rural area and the split is nearly as wide there as it is in the cities. Just because a city goes blue doesn't mean that much more than 50% of the population is on that side.

    25. Re: Occam's Razor by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wait, are you saying McCain was given cancer because he stood up to this bullshit!?! That makes so much sense!!!

      No, what I'm saying is, that if, figuratively speaking, traditional conservative values were an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, John McCain was the last of the Mohicans.

    26. Re:Occam's Razor by DamnOregonian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's more comparing news organizations FOX is the number one rated news channel,

      No, Fox is the #1 rated channel on cable news, as watched by people ages 25-54.
      The fact that a bunch of angry shit-for-brains are glued to their tube for large portions of the day doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
      If you were remotely honest instead of trying to push a narrative, you'd have acknowledged that when you tried to use that shit ass metric of "truthiness"

      CNN can't beat ancient aliens on the history channel

      You've touched upon the point right there, buddy. Cable news ratings favor bullshit programming for the simpler folk who don't know how to get off their couch, and like being told fantastical conspiracy theories.

      despite having similar standards with regard to factuality.

      Yes, that must be it.
      Answer me this- how the fuck do you hold down a job being so unforgivably stupid? I know that's a crap word to use, but what the hell else do you call someone so incapable of applying even fundamental logic to an argument they're trying to make?

    27. Re:Occam's Razor by apoc.famine · · Score: 1, Insightful

      By European standards? By any factual standard Fox News is insane. Perception or subjectivity are not required to make that determination.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    28. Re: Occam's Razor by doggo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "You really don't know that many rural people."

      Just most of my family, but hey, your experience clearly... trumps mine, right?

      "Many of the social safety nets that are there to help people in overpopulated areas do not properly help people in lower cost of living areas."

      So maybe instead of being a bunch of hateful fucks, those yokels could work together with the hated city folks to address those issues.

      Instead, they'd rather be spiteful shitheels doing shit like rolling coal.

    29. Re:Occam's Razor by fuzzywig · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Mate, I've seen some Fox news and I can tell you that by international standards your "US Leftist media" is being pretty polite.

      It took me a few minutes to be sure that it wasn't a piss-take on a statical news show. The amount of distortion would be flat out illegal in a lot of countries I think (as shown when they do have news from outside the US, and get it so hilariously wrong)

      I'm afraid to say it's reality's well known liberal bias, raising it's head again.

    30. Re: Occam's Razor by ooloorie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      His term was indistinguishable from someone who tried to do the right thing but was easily swayed by propaganda (or maybe partly by classified info that we don't have). I don't know how much was malice or incompetence or just naivete.

      Well, it certainly doesn't make him a conservative as the GP claimed.

      Donald Trump is clearly NOT trying to do the right thing. That's the difference.

      I have no idea what Donald Trump is "trying" to do. But unlike Obama, Trump so far has reduced regulations, appointed/nominated better justices, and lowered taxes. On the other hand, he has done nothing to hurt me (I'm a gay immigrant) and started no new wars. Drone strikes are also way down under Trump. So, whatever Trump is (and he is certainly no conservative or libertarian either), I have no cause to complain.

    31. Re: Occam's Razor by Green+Mountain+Bot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Obama also caused ...

      Correlation !=causation

    32. Re: Occam's Razor by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Right on. I've been saying that for a while, people are focused on whether what Trump said is true or not, where all that matters is what effect it achieves. He tweets something and the idea enters the public consciousness, typically further polarizing people, but those are sometimes ideas worth discussing.

      I go to Google news to check the pulse of the left world, though occasionally a Fox News article slips in, then I go to Fox News for the pulse of the mainstream conservatives, and occasionally check Breitbart or Vox to get the reading on the far ends. Though in reality most of it I see as entertainment, the understanding or something close to it I get from Geopolitical Futures. For example they said long time ago that what matters in a trade war is not the rhetoric but what % of a country's GDP is export. If it's a lot, it will have to bend to the will of the one that imports a lot and exports less, and that's exactly what we see happening with China, Mexico, and what we will see with Canada.

      All that said, Trump benefits from hostile mainstream news, in the eyes of supporters and probably a good deal of independents, if such people exist with respect to Trump.

    33. Re:Occam's Razor by Green+Mountain+Bot · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Narcissitic Personality Disorder:

      Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder with a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. Those affected often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or on their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them.
      ...
      Self-confidence (a strong sense of self) is different from narcissistic personality disorder; people with NPD typically value themselves over others to the extent that they openly disregard the feelings and wishes of others, and expect to be treated as superior, regardless of their actual status or achievements. Moreover, the person with narcissistic personality disorder usually exhibits a fragile ego (self-concept), intolerance of criticism, and a tendency to belittle others in order to validate their own superiority.
      ...
      The DSM-5 indicates that persons with NPD usually display some or all of the following symptoms, typically without the commensurate qualities or accomplishments:
      1) Grandiosity with expectations of superior treatment from other people
      2) Fixated on fantasies of power, success, intelligence, attractiveness, etc.
      3) Self-perception of being unique, superior, and associated with high-status people and institutions
      4) Needing continual admiration from others
      5) Sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others
      6) Exploitative of others to achieve personal gain
      7) Unwilling to empathize with the feelings, wishes, and needs of other people
      8) Intensely envious of others, and the belief that others are equally envious of them
      9) Pompous and arrogant demeanor

    34. Re: Occam's Razor by Tough+Love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Trump benefits from hostile mainstream news

      I see very little "hostile" trump news on the google news front page. If you want that, you have to go to twitter feeds and the like. What you apparently mistake for hostile news is actually horrified news, in reaction to the horrific actions of a horrible person.

      One thing is clear: today's "google news is fake news" trump troll is just a brazen attempt to switch the focus away from John McCain and back to him. Same with yesterday's fake trade deal. Sigh, this week is going to be along week from trump. Expect another troll tomorrow morning.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  2. Darn that Drumpf anyway by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You know, if he spent his time actually doing good things instead of bad things he could spend a lot less time lying and going on and on about "fake" news. I mean if he didn't spend all of his time denying that he ever said or did the things he is on tape saying and doing he might have time to learn why you don't just get an economic advisor by searching on Amazon and figure out that his tariffs and trade wars are bad. Then, he wouldn't have to read about how stupid his policies are.

  3. It doesn't matter whether it's true by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This statement is probably bullshit, but it serves its purpose: His die hard fans will simply believe it and any bad news is simply propaganda against him. What is or what isn't doesn't really matter either way.

    In a way, it's genius. What astonishes me, though, is that for him works what didn't for the commie leaders of old: Saying that the media in the liberal west are just spreading lies.

    I refuse to believe that Russians are smarter than Americans.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Re:trumpdot by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Considering that it's a site that is used internationally, and that in general international readers think it's funny you made Donald Duck the ruler of your country...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. This is just more alternative facts... by EndlessNameless · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the record doesn't reflect what you want, toss it out and supply your own "facts". Trump is mad that he's forced to face criticism and not allowed to make up his own facts.

    And beyond all that, Google ranks pages essentially based on their popularity. If a lot of sites---especially popular sites---link to your content, then it gets ranked more highly regardless of how "good" or "true" it is. In that sense, Google's rankings simply reflect an unfavorable opinion of Trump.

    This is more of the same attitude on the part of the President, and I scarcely see it as newsworthy. He's been at war with the media practically since his campaign started.

    --

    ---
    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
  6. Trumps behavior is the simple explanation by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bias is simple, and doesn't require any conspiracy.

    Just because you don't agree with something doesn't mean it is bias. Believing all news sources are biased against you is indistinguishable from believing in a conspiracy. The simple explanation here is just that Trump doesn't like news that isn't flattering to him and that there is a LOT of factual news that makes him objectively look bad. His own behavior is the simplest explanation, not bias. Some people like his behavior - many many more do not. Ergo a lot of of news isn't favorable to Trump.

  7. Re:These days reality has a liberal bias by rickb928 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "the facts about Trump... All these aspects of reality that mainstream media is willing to embrace, conservative media largely rejects."

    Oh, dear. The mainstream media focuses not on the "the facts about Trump" but on their opinions, analyses, and actually start with reporting that is based not on fact but on provably false statements and assumptions.

    And I'm not at all surprised this "the facts about Trump" meme is presented so quickly. This mantra is repeated by the mainstream media as if it is true, because, after all, they want it to be true.

    If you're unable to find salient examples of my assertion that the mainstream media relies on "provably false statements and assumptions.", you are not, no, you are not even trying. And I cannot change that. There is no lack of sources for this, credible sources, some even nonpartisan. Go and look.

    Complaining that I'm not making my point is actually a result of the mainstream media successfully burying, subverting, and discrediting such facts, and they are factual, based on Congressional testimony and federal agency data. Oh, there, a clue. Follow it or not.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  8. the rightwing media self protrait as unreliable by aepervius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Look, we aren't blind and deaf. When we see/hear stupid stuff like fox news comparing Denmark and Venezuela, or even many other completely ridiculous pretension like part of london being muslim only, and I pass many other, not even counting you have theblaze as conservative media we come to our conclusion alone why fox news is called faux news. You don't like it ? Then ask your conservative media to have a fact based reporting , rather than wishful thinking reporting.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  9. Preaching to the choir by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What astonishes me, though, is that for him works what didn't for the commie leaders of old: Saying that the media in the liberal west are just spreading lies.

    It works (on some) because he's saying it to his tribe who are already predisposed to believe it is true. Trump is basically preaching to the choir. That's why his ratings have bottomed out - his supporters don't care what he says and everyone else knows he's full of shit.

    I refuse to believe that Russians are smarter than Americans.

    Hard to tell if electing Trump or Putin is the dumber move so you're probably right. Technically Trump lost the popular vote which makes it harder to pick a "winner".

  10. Re:These days reality has a liberal bias by ranton · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So if reality has a liberal bias then GMOs are the devil, vaccines cause autism and there are no biological differences between males and females? Oh, and a new one I found out yesterday is that apparently race isn't based on biology either.

    Idiot.

    There are certainly falsehoods believed by groups on both sides of the political spectrum, and in the recent past it could be argued the crazies on both sides were fairly equal. But unfortunately today the far right has went so far off the deep end there is no comparison. Lets look at some of your examples.

    Liberals do tend to have unfounded anti-GMO biases, which while misguided are still based on some solid scientific concerns. Compare that to Conservatives and their antagonistic views on global climate change, which go against an effectively unanimous backing from the scientific community.

    Anti-vaccination concerns started out with a tiny section of liberals, but today these concerns are roughly equally shared by the far left and far right. Even here, one side is merely anti-corporation where the other is more generally anti-science. Both are misguided, but the far right is driven as usual from its anti-intellectual beliefs.

    No liberals I have ever read about believe there are no biological differences between men and women. They simply follow the research which shows biology is not a prime driver of gender inequities in our society. Compare that to conservatives who still believe gender is a binary condition, and the far right is clearly less educated in their beliefs here as well.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  11. Re:There's no conspiracy by omnichad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, the fact is that Google only trusts big names in news, like CNN and Fox, never mind how ridiculous they may be.

    As they should. They aren't analyzing the credibility of web sites, they're analyzing the credibility that the public assigns to these web sites. Giving equal weight to a random conspiracy theorist web site with 5 followers makes no sense for very good reason.

  12. It's not bias - it's behavior by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All I said is: bias is simple.

    Bias is simple but Trump's behavior and dislike of unflattering news that results from it is a proven fact. Occam's razor only applies when it isn't clear what the answer is between two choices. While there are clearly a minority of news sources that are biased against (and for) Trump, many more are simply accurately relaying facts without any significant bias for or against. The fact that these facts make Trump look like an asshat is a second order effect. There is a reason his approval ratings are generally historically low - the majority of people don't approve of his actions and it should surprise no one that the news reflects that disapproval.

    Trump behaves like asshat = news reports asshattery is a FAR simpler explanation than assuming widespread and universally negative bias against Trump by google and news organizations.