Study Suggests Big Tech Can Influence Flocks of Undecided Voters ‘Without People’s Awareness’

Google Search

A study has found that tech companies can influence the decisions of large numbers of undecided voters with search suggestions on search engines.

The study, conducted by Dr. Robert Epstein and several other affiliates of the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT), sought to determine whether the suggestions that pop into the search bar when using engines like Google can influence the voting behavior of undecideds. Its findings suggest that the “search suggestion effect” (SSE) is real and powerful, so much so that search engine operators controlling search suggestions could have “the power to shift a large number of votes without people’s awareness,” Epstein told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Read the full story