Crude Michelle Obama Image Made Cruder by "Related Searches"

I don't know why Huffington Post's screen shot isn't showing the "related searches" tag - which to me is just as offensive as the image itself.  HP's is on top, my screen grab is right below. 

Notice where the arrow I drew points.  Why is this happening?  I understand how the "image popularity" might affect its ranking and placement - but "Related searches: Michelle Obama Monkey...?"   I mean, come on.  Shouldn't a related search be something like: "Michelle Obama First Lady" or "Michelle President's Wife?"

Nuts and bolts from HuffPo:  Google has purchased online ads in an effort to explain to users why an offensive image of Michelle Obama is appearing, and is ranked so highly, in its Google Image search results.  The Google ad, titled "Offensive Search Results," appears directly over the pictures of the First Lady that show up when users perform a Google Image search for "Michelle Obama."  Google's advertisement reads, "Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree." (So that makes seveal million of us.)  It then continues with a longer explanation [read the full text here] on why certain search results appear, and why they may be highly ranked.

"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. [...] We apologize if you've had an upsetting experience using Google. We hope you understand our position regarding offensive results."

The 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," SearchEngineLand writes.  Now, however, the offensive photo has been posted to another site that does not violate Google rules.  (And it's ba-aaack.)

Interestingly, if you key in Michelle Obama without the quotes, the first picture in the lineup isn't the one that's been photoshopped.  (See screen shot, left.)  But it still includes that detestable "related searches" link which supposedly applies to the entire page. 

How did Google come up with the criteria for this?  Who wrote it?

(For what it's worth, on the search engine Bing, that image doesn't get top billing with OR without the quotes.)

Comments

[Carol]

I was curious why that dumb picture kept popping up everywhere. I just did an image search and got the same "related searches" monkey link. You think there's a wingnut mole inside Google?

[Erin]

So much hate and racism in this country.