Search "Romney Can Win" and Google Algorithm Asks If You Made a Typo.
Google denies the program had human help. I exhibit screenshots, but if you want to look at the screens close up, you might want to do the searches yourself.
Peter Fulham of Slate reports that if you type "Romney Can Win" into Google search, the algorithm asks if you didn't mean to type "Romney can't win." The algorithm kindly treats your search term as a spelling error. See the screen shot below.
When you click on the link "Romney Can't Win," you go to a page where the main story is Google.
The algorithm doesn't treat Obama's election chances the same way. It doesn't ask is you didn't mean to type something else. It does direct you to articles that say he can win and how he can win:
CBS News in its "Political Hotsheet" section quotes a Google spokesperson: "Our spellcheck feature is automated, and while no algorithm is perfect, we're always working to improve our search quality."
Romney shouldn't feel slighted. Although he's the only Republican candidate that the Google algorithm doesn't think can win, the smarty-pants program thinks some other guys are losers too. I use the pseudonym marqjonz elsewhere (and did here until Google changed its rules). Look what happens when I type in "marqjonz can win":
I've been irritated more often than helped by the Google algorithm's suggestions on spelling. In fact, if you want to get articles in Spanish, I'd say the algorithm gets in the way. I hope Google takes this peculiar search result as a cue to update the algorithm
I'm interested to see if Google's search algorithm is more accurate than the late octopus who correctly predicted the winner of the World Cup.
Sources
Condon, Stephanie. "Google glitch suggests 'Romney can't win.'" Political Hotsheet. CBS News. October 28, 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20127226-503544/google-glitch-suggests-romney-cant-win/
Fulham, Peter. "Google Thinks Romney Can't Win." Slate. October 27, 2011. http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/10/27/google_thinks_romney_can_t_win.html.