Almost two weeks ago if you searched for Michelle Obama in Google’s image search you would find a racist caricature depicting the first lady as a monkey. Last Thursday Google removed the image but the image has since returned and Google has purchased a search advert above the image results explaining “search engines
are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet.”

Google is apologizing over a racially offensive picture of Michelle Obama that pops up when users search for images of the First Lady — but refuses to take it down.

Here’s Google’s statement, which you can also read by click

Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google.

Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. A site’s ranking in Google’s search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page’s relevance to a given query.

The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results. Individual citizens and public interest groups do periodically urge us to remove particular links or otherwise adjust search results. Although Google reserves the right to address such requests individually, Google views the integrity of our search results as an extremely important priority. Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it. We will, however, remove pages from our results if we believe the page (or its site) violates our Webmaster Guidelines, if we believe we are required to do so by law, or at the request of the webmaster who is responsible for the page.

We apologize if you’ve had an upsetting experience using Google. We hope you understand our position regarding offensive results.

According to SearchEngineLand, the racist image was previously removed by Google on the grounds that the site hosting the Michelle Obama picture “violated Google’s guidelines by serving malware to visitors.”

Now, however, the offensive photo has been posted to another site that does not violate Google rules.

Research into the family of US First Lady Michelle Obama has revealed that her great-great-great-grandmother was a slave given away at the age of six.

full article in bbc