A recent investigation by the Media Research Center (MRC) has uncovered significant disparities in how Google presents search results for various presidential candidates in the 2024 election. The study, conducted just days before the highly anticipated debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, found that Google’s search algorithms prioritized Biden’s campaign website over Trump’s, with the latter failing to appear on the first page of results.
Researchers conducted two sets of search queries, examining individual candidate websites and party-specific results. In both cases, they noted substantial differences in how different candidates’ websites were ranked. For example, a search for “republican party presidential campaign websites” placed Trump’s campaign site at a disappointing 39th position out of 40 results, while a similar search for Democratic candidates prominently featured Biden’s website at the top.
With Google commanding a global market share of nearly 92 percent in the search engine space, the visibility of information on its platform can significantly influence public perception and access to campaign resources. This is not the first time Google has faced scrutiny over its potential influence on elections. The MRC has documented 41 instances of alleged election interference by Google since 2008, with the frequency and intensity of these occurrences reportedly increasing in recent years.
While Google maintains that its search algorithms are designed to provide the most relevant and useful information to users, without political bias, the opacity of these algorithms and the significant impact they can have on information dissemination continue to raise questions about the responsibility and power of tech companies in democratic processes.
Read more at the Media Research Center here.
