Germany's Former First Lady Sues Google for 'Prostitute' Algorithm: Whose Side Are You On?

by AdriHead Posted 2012/09/12 22:21:28

Related Topics: Germany, Google, Bettina Wulff, First Lady, Google Search

579 votes
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	Team Bettina Wulff!	210 votes	36%
	Team Google!	369 votes	64%

Bettina Wulff, Germany's former first lady, is not a prostitute -- and she want you to know it. The wife of former German President Christian Wulff is suing Google over its autocomplete function while searching, which shows the words "prostitute" and "escort" after Wulff's name is typed out.

The former German first lady says she's never been a prostitute but that rumors circulated about her allegedly racy past around 2006, most likely to harm her husband's political career. Wulff may not be a prostitute, but do you think the lawsuit is fair? Or is Google being sued for all the wrong reasons?

NYDAILYNEWS.COM reports:
Germany’s former first lady is not happy with her Google results. Bettina Wulff, 38, is suing the search giant over their autocomplete function, which she argues perpetuates rumors that she was once a prostitute.

38 suing search giant autocomplete function argues perpetuates rumors prostitute

+11

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Mog of War 2012/09/12 22:29:44

Team Google!

+12
Google's autocomplete feature is base on popular searches. Deal with it. Google could probably filter this from their autocomplete, and likely will, so this lawsuit is pointless.
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More polls by AdriHead

Steve Boston 2012/09/14 00:48:36

Team Google!

+1
Our Global Big Brother Google will win this one too.

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Wm Kabrich to Steve B... 2012/09/14 17:06:52

As they should.

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sokoyah 2012/09/14 00:39:35

Team Bettina Wulff!

+3
if it isn't true she should sue the gaggle out of google

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BlueMax372 to sokoyah 2012/09/14 17:33:36

+1
The gaggle and the schnitzel!

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sokoyah to BlueMax372 2012/09/14 20:24:24

+1
good one! (-:

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Proggy 2012/09/14 00:08:07

Team Google!

+1
Have she ever thought of the fact that she just may not be the only "Bettina Wulff" in the world? It's highly likely she's not.

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Razoreye001 2012/09/14 00:02:19

Team Google!

Google won lawsuits against China and America, they have nothing to worry about if their not affraid of either of those countries.

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DutchHeretic Native non-Ame... 2012/09/13 23:16:42

Team Google!

+1
Does she really think she is the only Bettina Wulff ???
And here in Europe people would not give a damn , even if she had been a prostitute on a certain moment of her life..
We are not so narrow minded ...

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Ashley 2012/09/13 21:54:58

Team Google!

+1
OMG... seriously, she needs to get over her butthurt... it happens ALL the time and it isn't really entirely in Google's control... I'm no techie, but even I can tell you that the top suggestions are based on popular searches... you can type in ANYONE'S name practically and almost all the time the suggestions include "naked" or "drunk" or something else even more degrading... GET OVER IT, WULFFY!!

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Keith 2012/09/13 21:37:57

Team Google!

Google has a faulty algorthm. She has already let everyone know she's not an escort.

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Tastentier 2012/09/13 21:36:05

Team Google!

I bet Rick Santorum would like to have her problems.

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wamcalif 2012/09/13 21:15:07

Team Google!

+1
If she were a hoe, I'm sure she'd cost a bundle.

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belinda baardsen 2012/09/13 20:42:48

Team Bettina Wulff!

+2
Google should hold itself accountable for how they present, and allow people to be represented. She has every right to challenge this and to force them to fix it.

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RoyDMercer - IFOTFD 2012/09/13 20:12:16

Team Google!

+4
I'm going to sue Lotus Notes because when I write my name (Rodney) at the end of an email, their spellchecker suggests it should be Rodent.

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Elisa ✦... to RoyDMer... 2012/09/13 20:14:46

+5
Lmao i mean AWWW!! :)

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RoyDMer... to Elisa ✦... 2012/09/13 20:15:31

+4
Wanna pet me?

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Elisa ✦... to RoyDMer... 2012/09/13 20:16:41

+2
AWWWW!!

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PM to RoyDMer... 2012/09/13 21:09:14

+3
LOL!!! Too funny. Thanks for the humor.

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Elisa ✦ Knockout™ 2012/09/13 20:08:51 (edited)

Team Google!

For f*ucks sakes it's a search engine. Not Googles fault for her notorious behaviour. DUH!!
Wow sodahead thanks for letting me know my reply was hidden for saying the f* word.
Hopefully people can see my reply now.

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PM to Elisa ✦... 2012/09/13 21:11:11

+1
That's the problem, she says she's never been a prostitute, and her behavior has never been such that she has been in that line fo work. I'd be a little upset if behind my name murderer came up and I've never murdered anyone.

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Elisa ✦... to PM 2012/09/15 02:31:51

Still not Googles fault obviously people don't know how the internet works.

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PM to Elisa ✦... 2012/09/17 14:32:01

Yeah, I know, Google's Autocomplete function only suggests what the most popular searches have already been using the words you've typed in. It's kinda sad when someone writes something negative about you, and people immediately begin searching along that rumor line.

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Maddog 2012/09/13 19:41:08

Team Google!

+2
Hilarious!

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Michelle 2012/09/13 19:20:42

Team Google!

+2
As embarrassing as that would be, Google's algorithms mean autocomplete offers your popular searches based on what you've written. It's not Google's fault this has occurred. While I'm all for people protecting themselves from slander, if I were her, I'd be more concerned about the search results that come up, not that Google's engines have learned the phrase.

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Grammar... to Michelle 2012/09/13 21:47:45

I would suggest that the results would likely actually clarify the situation.
How do people search for the history of the situation? They use key words. She can't stomp her feet because people search for information.
I can't see any court upholding such a silly lawsuit & I hope it never gets further than five minutes.
What a waste of money & time... she should know better... especially being German.

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Michelle to Grammar... 2012/09/13 21:57:39

Wonderful point-- I completely agree. If there is no slander going on in the actual search results, then Google is certainly not at fault for people looking for information!

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Greg 2012/09/13 19:08:27

Team Google!

+4

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Lanikai 2012/09/13 18:27:05

Team Bettina Wulff!

+3
I support her and hope she wins.

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Razorey... to Lanikai 2012/09/14 00:04:16

Not likely, Google managed to win in lawsuits between them and both China and America. It's not really smart to bet against Google.

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Lanikai to Razorey... 2012/09/14 15:03:17

Especially since the judges are all so in favor of obie, and google LOVES them some obie.

There is no actual justice in America for anyone, you only get justice if you are proobama.

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Margaret Jacobson 2012/09/13 18:20:30

Team Bettina Wulff!

+3
GOOGLE WILL WIN ULTIMATELY WIN !! But Bettina will get her "satisification " ??

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johnnyg 2012/09/13 18:00:27

Team Google!

+1
NSA Google is never wrong.

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Earl Hickey 2012/09/13 17:29:33

Team Google!

+2
[bleep] you strumpet! Go away, you're raising a stink over nothing. Just because you have money to sue doesn't give you the right to sue. It shows you're a spoilt [bleep]

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Grammar... to Earl Hi... 2012/09/13 21:48:56

...& wasting German taxpayer Euros. She should know better & suffer a fine to reimburse the court for its time/money.

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Nameless 2012/09/13 17:28:47

Team Bettina Wulff!

Let the court decide.

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mwf122090 2012/09/13 16:36:07

Team Google!

+3
Google can't help it that people think she's a prostitute.

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BigFig#9 2012/09/13 16:35:31

Team Google!

+2
Although German law might be different in this regard....

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Jon Bergen 2012/09/13 16:13:48

Team Google!

+3

Google didn't start the story, only reported results stemming from it. Unless a human working for Google tampered with those results, the algorithm is just pointing to what is already out there on the Web. Either way, Google is not offering a judgment on the reliability of the information.

Ms. Wulff's beef is not with Google, but with someone else.

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Grammar... to Jon Bergen 2012/09/13 21:51:26

+1
I would say that how people search, what key words they use, isn't Google's responsibility or "fault."
She's wasting taxpayer Euros & I hope she's given a penalty for doing so. She should know better.

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Car Chick 2012/09/13 15:33:05

Team Google!

+4
There are much more disturbing/hilarious results from the autocomplete search on Google. When I'm bored I will sometimes type in random words on Google to see what comes up. Yes, I am blocked out of damn near everything at work... a girls gotta find some way to entertain herself at work!

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