The French Now Hate Google Autocomplete


I used to associate the US with crazy lawsuits, like people suing fast food chains because they spilt hot coffee on themselves! Turns out the French are just as mad. The latest such case of French insanity is where a French anti-discrimination organization, SOS Racisme, sued Google for its, hold your breath, autocomplete feature.

So what about autocomplete is so offensive to the French? Turns out if you type the names of certain celebrities on Google’s page, autocomplete shows the word “Jew”. The French, of course, are too dumb to know how Google autocomplete (or anything else for that matter) works:
-         Autocomplete is an algorithm that shows suggestions based on search phrases that the majority of people typed in the past.
-         Further, autocomplete does localization, i.e., the suggested phrases shown vary from place to place to reflect the popular choice in that region.

Now that you understand how autocomplete works, consider what SOS Racisme missed: if you type “Rupert Murdoch” in Paris, autocomplete shows the word “Jew” whereas in Bangalore, it shows “scandal”! What does that say about the French v/s Indians? Let me say it since the brain dead French still won’t get it: most French people type the word “Jew” after Murdoch’s name which is why autocomplete shows “Jew” in Paris. That is not the case in India.

SOS Racisme, autocomplete is a mirror. If you don’t like what it suggests, take a look at your own countrymen instead of hating Google!

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