Google Explains Why Some Image Search Results Look Racist

Jan 3, 2019 - 8:09 am 171 by
Filed Under Google

Couple

Someone pointed out to Google's Danny Sullivan that searching Google Image search for [white couples] vs [black couples] shows racist bias by Google. Danny Sullivan explained why the results were not racist on Twitter.

First, look at the differences between the two search results.

[white couples]:

click for full size

[black couples]:

click for full size

You can see while the black couples search results show just black couples, the white couples shows interracial couples.

Danny explained "As it turns out, when people post images of white couples, they tend to say only "couples" & not provide a race. But when there are mixed couples, then "white" gets mentioned. Our image search depends on heavily words -- so when we don't get the words, this can happen."

Maybe Google has to learn how to be more sensitive to people? Or will that cause more bias?

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility This Weekend - Around July 18th

Jul 19, 2026 - 8:04 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 17, 2026

Jul 17, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google 7/11 Update, Bing Penalties, Google Images, AI Overviews AI Images, Google Ads Updates, ChatGPT Ads Features & Apple Maps

Jul 17, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Making Broader Smart Bidding Updates? Google Says No.

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Maps

Did Google Maps Turn Off OpenTable Reservations?

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Renamed NotebookLM Useragent To Google-GeminiNotebook

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:31 am
 
Previous Story: Bing: We Ignore Default Robots Directives If There Is A Bingbot Section