Missouri AG probing Google for allegedly manipulating search results ahead of 2024 election

Google faces an investigation by the Missouri attorney general’s office for allegedly “manipulating search results” and exhibiting anti-conservative bias ahead of the 2024 election.Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he will issue subpoenas to “get to the bottom of what appears to be election interference by Google,” a spokesperson for the Republican told The Post on Friday.Bailey will be seeking information about the black-box algorithm that powers Google search — which has come under fire from Donald Trump leading up to the election for yielding mostly negative articles about the Republican presidential candidate.“Evidence has come to light that Google is deemphasizing conservative speech or content — such as putting conservative reporting on Page 11 rather than Page 1 – by manipulating search results,” the spokesperson said.“Google is the largest search engine in America and has an obligation to consumers to utilize fair business practice,” the spokesperson added.

“We will be subpoenaing information on Google’s algorithms and other systems to determine whether they are censoring conservative speech.”Bailey accused Google of “waging war on the democratic process” in an X post announcing the probe on Thursday.“I am launching an investigation into Google — the biggest search engine in America — for censoring conservative speech during the most consequential election in our nation’s history,” Bailey wrote.A Google spokesperson said the Missouri attorney general’s “claims are totally false.”“Independent studies have confirmed that Google Search is nonpartisan,” the spokesperson said in a statement.“Search serves all our users, and our business rests on showing useful information to everyone – no matter what their political beliefs are.”Trump and other Republicans have alleged for years that Google suppresses conservative voices.

Scrutiny ramped up after the “autofill” feature of Google’s sear...