Google apologises over Modi image search results

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Screenshot Internet giant Google on Wednesday apologised "for any confusion or misunderstanding" caused after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's images started appearing in image search results for query on "Top 10 criminals in India". The News Minute had first reported on how the PM's images cropped up on a search for “Top ten Indian criminals”. The results throws up scores of images, including that of wanted terrorists, such as Dawood Ibrahim, and also several unknown faces. However, some of the images that do turn up may not have anything to do with the keywords or the content of the story. A Google spokesperson said in a statement, "These results trouble us and are not reflective of the opinions of Google. Sometimes, the way images are described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries. We apologise for any confusion or misunderstanding this has caused. We're continually working to improve our algorithms to prevent unexpected results like this." Google said that results to the query "top 10 criminals in india" was due to a British daily which had an image of Modi and erroneous metadata. It said that in this case, the image search results were drawn from multiple news articles with images of Modi, covering the prime minister's statements with regard to politicians with criminal backgrounds, but added that the news articles do not link Modi to criminal activity, and the words just appeared in close proximity to each other. However, this is not the first time Google has thrown up puzzling and even defamatory results on its search engine. In November 2009, Google was at the centre of a controversy over a doctored photo of Michelle Obama with ape-like features showing up when the First Lady's name was searched on the site. With inputs from IANS Read: This is not the first time Google has thrown up 'unpopular' image results

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