In the 2020 and 2022 elections, experts believe Google tailored its algorithms to help Democrats win races across the country.
Foremost among them is former “Psychology Today” editor-in-chief Robert Epstein. Speaking with The Western Journal in 2022, Epstein revealed his research team had discovered “substantial bias” in Google algorithms that he believes shifted as many as 80 million votes in the midterm elections.
Then, in late July, users began discovering biased algorithms in Google search results related to the 2024 election.
It seems the tech giant is once again using manipulated algorithms to influence the American electorate heading into November.
Late last week, multiple outlets including NBC News and the New York Post reported on election-related Google search results seeming to favor Vice President Kamala Harris over her opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk was one of the first prominent voices to point out the apparent bias on July 31.
Just did a search for “Trump rally” on Google and Kamala was the top result! pic.twitter.com/WuklbVytq2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2024
Musk entered the term “Trump rally” into Google and was surprised to find the results heavily featuring Vice President Harris under its “Top stories” section, which was labeled “Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta.”
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The Post reported that, after Musk’s post went viral, Google changed the search results for that term to be more Trump-focused.
The Post entered various other terms regarding Trump, which also seemed to favor stories about Harris from left-wing sources in its results.
Later, it was reported by the Post, NBC News and others that Google’s newfangled “Autocomplete” function failed to show suggested results for the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
This writer entered various Trump-related search terms into Google Search and found similar bias.
For example, results for the search term “Trump-Vance” yielded a “Top stories” section labeled “JD Vance and Tim Walz.” Every story listed seemed to contrast the Democratic and Republican tickets.
Another search, “Trump 2024 election,” was labeled “2024 US elections” and featured mostly stories about Harris mixed in with a few stories about Trump.
A similar search of the phrase “Harris 2024 election” did not receive the generic “2024 US elections” label and simply provided news about Harris.
Readers of The Western Journal shouldn’t be surprised at Google’s manipulation of search terms, however.
In its 2022 interview, Epstein revealed manipulations such as this were among Google’s many biased algorithm manipulations favoring Democrats.
Epstein’s team of more than 3,000 volunteers of all political persuasions from across the country tracked Google’s “ephemeral experiences,” or Google-manufactured experiences that impact the user and then vanish for good.
The above manipulated Google search results — which favor one side for a certain period before an election, and then revert back to normal afterward — are one such example.
Other examples of “ephemeral experiences” include quick prompts that say “Go vote,” search suggestions, voting reminders and interactions with personal assistants.
Epstein’s team of researchers found 2.4 million examples of Google’s “ephemeral experiences” that favored Democrats.
Liberal users received a disproportionate number of pop-up reminders telling them to vote, and search results were carefully worded to favor Democrats, to name just a few examples.
Epstein’s team felt that these manipulations were widespread enough to shift roughly 80 million votes across the country in 2022.
“You’re talking about the most powerful industry that’s ever existed in the history of humankind. And they’re not just impacting our thinking and our behavior and our votes in the United States. They’re now influencing more than 3.5 billion people around the world,” Epstein told The Western Journal.
The latest reports on Google search manipulations in 2024 may only be a drop in the bucket if Google continues to use such tactics heading into November.
