Google search issue: Shashi Tharoor takes up issue with Sundar Pichai

Thiruvananthapuram: Internet search engine giant Google has justified the display of “hot” pictures while searching for ‘South Indian Masala’.

Online search behaviour seems to have almost altered the historical fact that Kerala is considered as the ‘spice garden of India.’

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had taken up the issue with Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai through a tweet after he came across social media posts in this regard.

Responding to Mr Tharoor’s tweet, Google said that Google search engine results were delivered on the basis of understanding of intent, user happiness and previous results. It has also suggested, as though it could provide some relief for hurt southerners, that the search for ‘Hindi Masala,’ as opposed to ‘North India masala,’ would deliver hot pictures.

Interestingly, with South Indian and North Indian ‘masala’ becoming a hot debate in the cyber space, the search for ‘North India Masala’ is also delivering hot images these days. Mr Tharoor tagged Sundar Pichai and Google on his tweet terming the display of ‘hot’ picture for ‘South Indian Masala’ as ‘bizarre and disgraceful.’ He also wanted the phenomenon explained and fixed. Besides Mr Tharoor, hundreds of others also flayed Google for the embarrassing results that ‘South Indian masala’ throws up. However, there were many who justified Google. Some even went to the extent of ridiculing Mr Tharoor by referring to the results of personal searches regarding Mr Tharoor.