Google announced on August 1 a series of new initiatives aimed at combating false and explicit content in its search results. The tech giant is implementing improved content removal processes to make it easier for users to have inappropriate material removed, and is also refining its search ranking system to ensure such content does not prominently appear in search results.
Emma Higham, a Google product manager, detailed these updates in a post on the company’s official blog. She noted that users have long requested the removal of unauthorized and explicit images from Google Search, prompting the company to develop a streamlined system to address this issue.
“When a user successfully requests the removal of unauthorized and explicit content featuring themselves, Google’s system will now filter out similar explicit results in related searches,” Higham explained.
70% Reduction in Exposure of Explicit Images
Higham highlighted that when an image is successfully removed from Google Search under the company’s policies, the system will also scan for and eliminate all other copies of that image. This approach has already proven effective in managing other types of non-consensual imagery, and Google is now expanding these protections to cover fake explicit content, providing users with greater peace of mind.
In addition to enhancing the reporting and removal process for inappropriate content, Google is updating its search ranking algorithms. These updates aim to adjust search results for queries that are more likely to yield explicit fake content. Specifically, Google is introducing ranking updates that will lower the prominence of such content across many search results. For searches that include people’s names and could potentially bring up explicit fake images, Google will prioritize displaying high-quality, non-explicit content, such as related news articles. This year, these updates have already reduced the exposure of explicit image results in such searches by over 70%.
Ongoing Technological Advancements
One of the challenges Google faces is distinguishing between real and consensual explicit content, such as legitimate scenes from movies, and fake explicit content generated through technologies like deepfakes. Higham acknowledged that this is a significant technical challenge for search engines, but emphasized that Google is continually refining its algorithms to display more legitimate content while demoting fake explicit material.
“If a website has numerous pages removed from Google search for violating our policies, it’s a strong indicator that the site is not of high quality,” Higham stated. “Google will lower the ranking of search results for sites that have a large number of pages removed due to false explicit images.”
Google’s latest measures are part of its ongoing efforts to enhance user safety and ensure that its search results uphold a high standard of quality and accuracy.
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