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Are Google search results biased? Yes

I happened to make a Google search for the expression "don't be that guy" in a browser with no prior search history (which could influence the results), and I noticed a quite clear pattern in the results that the engine gave me. Out of curiosity I also made the same search on DuckDuckGo to compare.

Here's a summary of the first 25 results from Google. For convenience, I have highlighted in bold those results that are not somehow related to "male sexual assault on women":

  1. Some website dedicated to sexual assault by men.
  2. A The Guardian article about an anti-sexual-assault campaign by the Scottish police.
  3. An anti-sexual-assault web page of the Nottinghamshire Police.
  4. Another website dedicated to sexual assault by men.
  5. The Twitter page for that Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  6. A humoristic book sold at Amazon.com.
  7. An explanation of the expression at quora.com.
  8. An article at news.stv.tv about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  9. A comedy sketch video.
  10. The website of the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  11. The IMDB page for that comedy sketch video.
  12. Another website dedicated to sexual assault by men.
  13. Another article about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  14. The Spotify page for a song named "Don't Be That Guy".
  15. A page about a board game with that name.
  16. Yet again an anti-sexual-assault campaign webpage.
  17. Video link to that "Don't Be That Guy" song.
  18. Lyrics page for that song.
  19. An anti-sexual-assault Facebook page.
  20. A humoristic video.
  21. A Glamour Magazine article about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  22. A video about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  23. Yet another website dedicated to sexual assault by men.
  24. A stylist.co.uk article about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  25. An Indiana Express article about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.

Now compare that to the first 25 results from DuckDuckGo (again, with the results not related to sexual assault highlighted in bold):

  1. A The Guardian article about an anti-sexual-assault campaign by the Scottish police.
  2. A YouTube channel with that name, containing humoristic videos.
  3. An US Army website campaigning against binge drinking.
  4. A humoristic YouTube video.
  5. An article at news.stv.tv about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  6. Another US Army article campaigning against binge drinking.
  7. Another article at news.stv.tv about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  8. An explanation of the expression at quora.com.
  9. A team-building activity page.
  10. A Christian religious article with generic life lessons.
  11. The Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign Twitter page.
  12. The search for that expression at the etsy.com online shop.
  13. An article about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  14. Another article about the Scottish police anti-sexual-assault campaign.
  15. A comedy sketch video.
  16. A humorous article about annoying American football fans.
  17. Some humorous online newspaper writing about an annoying guy.
  18. A humorous YouTube video.
  19. A TikTok video about drunken driving.
  20. An article about how to become a better person (not related to any sexual misconduct).
  21. The IMBD page for that comedy sketch video.
  22. An Amazon link for a book with that name (about building a career).
  23. A reddit page about idiotic drivers.
  24. A goodreads.com page for a book with that name (humoristic).
  25. The IMDB page for an episode of the TV series Toon in with Me.

The difference in the diversity of results is just staggering.

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