(August 26, 2015) A Flawed Elections Conspiracy Theory

Last week, Robert Epstein claimed that “Google’s search algorithm can easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters” and thereby “rig” elections. Mr. Epstein has publicized this hypothetical notion over the past two years, including during the 2014 India election cycle when The Guardian responded to his claims with a definitive article entitled “No, Google did not rig Indian elections.” In this latest media blitz, Epstein even calls for unspecified “government regulation” to protect against his theory.

There is absolutely no truth to Epstein’s hypothesis that Google could work secretly to influence election outcomes.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Deny deny deny google bitchez That's what you do)

Google has never ever re-ranked search results on any topic (including elections) to manipulate user sentiment.

(EDOTOR'S NOTE: How about "conspiracy"? Conspiracy Planet was Number 1 in search ranking in 2009 -- until the AI algo rejiggered it)

Moreover, we do not make any ranking tweaks that are specific to elections or political candidates.