This has nothing to do with ballots. This has everything to do with Google presenting only negative stories for candidates they DON'T like and positive stories for those they DO like when a person does a search for that candidate's name. It sways the potential voters opinion of the candidate. . . the people who did the study tried in with various people in artificial situations and then tried in REAL elections in India and got REAL results.
It sways the undecideds and the low-information voters who are looking for information on making their decisions. . . and it is QUITE effective. THEY think Google is impartial, but it isn't. You and I know this, but THE LOW INFORMATION VOTER DOES NOT! They think they are getting a fair representation of the stories about the candidates when it is being deliberately skewed.
It is the ultimate example of a one newspaper town controlling the news a voter base gets.
I buy that they’re doing it but not that it makes that much difference any more than tv news being skewed does. The media is the enemy, we know this. I doubt Romney would have won if Google linked to more positive stories about him.
Nothing new here. Google search results have been prioritizing nothing but nasty, negative stories on Ted Cruz from far left, homo sites like Salon for years. Only difference is, it's gotten even worse since he declared he was running for president. The good news is, Trump has more or less used his Twitter account to neutralize the pernicious effects of Google's evil acts. Congress will need to hold Google's feet to hot fire before the elections.
Thanks for explaining the real problem. That means each candidate has to be media savvy enough to know of the bias, and bold enough to speak up about it, or guide voters to more neutral sources of information.
In short, it’s The Yelp Syndrome.
You are absolutely correct. And I think it would have an effect on voters who are not low-information as well. A lie repeated often enough, and subtly enough, will have an effect on almost everyone.
I love Fords. I always buy Fords. But if I keep seeing articles about Ford problems and Ford recalls, over and over again, maybe I start rethinking Fords.
That's why you should always doublecheck with Wikipedia.
;-)