How a New Google Hack Relates Donald Trump with Hitler

Sofia Young
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

If you follow anything concerning digital advertisements, especially concerning Google, then you have probably heard about something called Google Knowledge Graphs. And if you haven’t, well time to listen up. These Knowledge Graphs are in the top right hand corner of a search whenever you search about a place, a person, or an event in history. You are able to learn more about the basics of what you’re looking for. Basically, they are Google’s attempt to simplify the search process and get you the information you want to know as fast as possible.

However, something happened recently that has brought some controversy to the technology giant. There have been reported hacks into these Knowledge Graphs, connecting famous personalities like Donald Trump with some of the worst people in the world, including Hitler. The hackcan even connect the Republican Party with the Islamic State, using the Knowledge Graphs. By simply changing variables of the hacked links, basically any search term can be related to these kind of Knowledge Graphs:

https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/027x630&hl=en&kgs=b1bf1db3905b3896&q=republican%20party&shndl=0&source=sh/x/kp&entrypoint=sh/x/kp&gws_rd=cr&ei=H1XrWO_EE8S1UbauheAJ

The part in yellow relates to the Knowledge Graph, while the red part relates to the search term.

These links are already into the wild, creatingharm to large companies like Tesla,by connecting them with the Islamic State, Hitler or other Nazi personalities over Social Media and even paid ads and pop-up windows.

Now, we should say that this feature of Google’s search engine has been controversial since it was launched. Many websites and brands were complaining that these Knowledge Graphs were taking away from their traffic because Google was creating the content that they were trying to get in front of viewers. Therefore, traffic was dropping to their sites in response.

This has of course followed the major controversy that shocked the technology world when big brands found out that they were paying for advertisements on controversial sites. Companies like Jaguar found out that their videos were being promoted on YouTube next to promotional videos for the Islamic State. Other ads from Mercedes-Benz, Waitrose, and Marie Curie were found to be located on hate sites by the Islamic State and Combat 18, which is a pro-Nazi group that has white supremacist links.

This latest hack into Google’s Knowledge Graphs is just one more thing for big brands to watch out for as they advertise within the Google realm. Now, this may just seem like another playground for hackers and geeks. It may even seem harmless for Donald Trump to appear along with a photo of Adolf Hitler. Funny, even! However, this is a major blow to the credibility of Google’s search process and the advertisements that companies choose to put on there. It’s likely that this hack will occur to more and more searches in the future, as there’s no way for Google to secure every single search result’s Knowledge Graph.

Many of us in the technology community see this as a sort of bad karma for Google. The company decided to bring on Knowledge Graphs as a way to use the content of other sites without their permission and now are paying the price with these hacks. What do you think?

Now, we should say that this feature of Google’s search engine has been controversial since it was launched. Many websites and brands were complaining that these Knowledge Graphs were taking away from their traffic because Google was creating the content that they were trying to get in front of viewers. Therefore, traffic was dropping to their sites in response.

This has of course followed the major controversy that shocked the technology world when big brands found out that they were paying for advertisements on controversial sites. Companies like Jaguar found out that their videos were being promoted on YouTube next to promotional videos for the Islamic State. Other ads from Mercedes-Benz, Waitrose, and Marie Curie were found to be located on hate sites by the Islamic State and Combat 18, which is a pro-Nazi group that has white supremacist links.

This latest hack into Google’s Knowledge Graphs is just one more thing for big brands to watch out for as they advertise within the Google realm. Now, this may just seem like another playground for hackers and geeks. It may even seem harmless for Donald Trump to appear along with a photo of Adolf Hitler. Funny, even! However, this is a major blow to the credibility of Google’s search process and the advertisements that companies choose to put on there. It’s likely that this hack will occur to more and more searches in the future, as there’s no way for Google to secure every single search result’s Knowledge Graph.

Many of us in the technology community see this as a sort of bad karma for Google. The company decided to bring on Knowledge Graphs as a way to use the content of other sites without their permission and now are paying the price with these hacks. What do you think?

Sofia Young
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade