Google News results favor left-leaning media, report finds

Cat Hofacker | USA TODAY

Google News and Google News search engine results appear to show a “strong preference” for media organizations that are on the left of the political spectrum, a new report finds.

The report from the media technology group AllSides, out Tuesday, analyzed Google News’ homepage and search engine results from the news page over a two-week period and determined that news outlets with a "left" bias were more often prominently displayed.

But the study found no evidence Google had intentionally altered search results for the purpose of “suppressing voices of conservatives,” as President Donald Trump has previously stated.

Trump has previously claimed that Google and other search engines are “rigged” against him.

"Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media," Trump tweeted Aug. 28. The administration has said the president was considering regulations against the tech giant.

Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. 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.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018

John Gable, CEO of AllSides and author of the study, said the bias is the result of “most news online and most news consumption online (being) from a left perspective.”

AllSides specializes in identifying media bias for the purpose of providing balanced perspectives. The group uses a media bias ratings based on popular opinion to rank media outlets as either left, right or center.

“If you look at where people get news online and you rate it, most of it is coming from the left,” Gable said.

He said Google search results come from what is largely a “popularity algorithm,” meaning that viewpoints more people have are more likely to be highlighted. As a result, viewpoints that are outside the majority don’t appear as high up in search results.

In this sense, Gable said, Google's algorithm is unintentionally biased toward more popular perspectives, and those are the results users see.

He said the danger in this is that it can play into people's preconceived notions.

"Right now, technology overly puts a spotlight on the most popular perspective, or the perspective that most fits you, and that cuts out other perspectives," he said. "It reduces an individual’s ability to decide for themselves or know the whole story."

Gable said going forward, Google has to decide what role it wants to play.

“If their role is just to reflect the internet, they’re doing a fine job," he said. "… If they think their job is to empower people to decide for themselves, they actually need to make a change.

A Google spokesperson told USA TODAY that "search is not used to set a political agenda."

"When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," the spokesperson said, adding that Google doesn't "bias our results toward any political ideology."

Google and other tech companies have come increasingly under fire for charges that search engines results do not treat conservatives fairly. In late September, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google employees had debated altering search results after Trump's travel ban against predominantly Muslim countries went into effect in January 2017.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai later met with Republican lawmakers to discuss those concerns. Pichai will also testify before the House Judiciary Committee about Google's business practices after the November midterms elections.