Age and Gender Stereotypes Reflected in Google’s “Autocomplete” Function: The Portrayal and Possible Spread of Societal Stereotypes

Abstract

Background and Objectives Google’s autocomplete function provides “predictors” to enable quick completion of intended search terms. The predictors reflect the search trends of a population; they capture societal beliefs and perceptions about a variety of subjects. This study explores the predictors provided by Google United States when searching for information about older men and women. Research Design and Methods The Google search engine of the United States was used to record predictors in response to 720 search terms. Inductive content analysis method was used to categorize and interpret the results. Results There was prevalence of age and gender stereotypes in the predictors offered by Google. Queries about older men were primarily associated with romance and sexuality whereas those for older women centered on changes in the body as well as sexual and reproductive health. Discussion and Implications The appearance of such predictors in response to a potential search query may lead to the spread of harmful stereotypes about older adults.

“COVID19 is_”: The Perpetuation of Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories via Google Autocomplete

“…Though designed to predict users' search interest, based on the previous literature, GA may influence a user's thoughts, views, and beliefs (Roy & Ayalon, 2020). It can be argued that Google would otherwise not put such an effort into preventing certain GA predictions from being displayed.…”

“…1026)." GA thus captures, reflects, and amplifies a population's interests and may thus influence society's perceptions and beliefs (Roy & Ayalon, 2020). GA may act as a subtle yet useful looking glass reflecting trending phrases generated by members of society, thus allowing researchers to gain insight into individual or group perceptions and beliefs to understand what COVID-19 CRT exist and how they are spread.…”

“…Aside from research in social media platforms, less obvious ways COVID‐19 CRT have been promoted have not yet been explored in‐depth. This study seeks to gain insight into the propagation of COVID‐19 CRT worldwide through examining GA. GA works by using results known as “predictions” to provide shortcuts for completing a search term (Roy & Ayalon, 2020 ). When a user begins typing a term in Google's search box, a list of GA predictions (search terms) appears below the box.…”

Google Autocomplete Search Algorithms and the Arabs' Perspectives on Gender: A Case Study of Google Egypt

“…In the same vein, Roy and Ayalon (2019) carried out a similar study to investigate how the predictors provided by the Google United States can reflect age and gender stereotypes when searching for information about older men and women. The study followed an inductive content analysis to categorize and interpret predictors in response to a number of search terms.…”

“…As discussed above, different scholars have explored online discourse to reveal stereotypes about certain groups (see Baker & Potts, 2013;Roy & Ayalon, 2019). However, little or no attention has so far been paid to technological affordances to reveal broader gender biases and stereotypes in the Arab World to the best of the researchers' knowledge.…”