Google responds to Holocaust search results criticism

Internet giant Google has defended itself over allegations that it overly controls terms on its search engine, but also acknowledged that it was looking into ways to improve its service.

The company received criticism after a report from the Guardian showed that searching the question "did the Holocaust happen?" led to a top result of a post claiming it did not.

Google, Facebook and other sites have come under pressure in recent months, owing to their use of algorithms which select the top search results and choose what content is seen based on a user's past activity.

"This is a really challenging problem, and something we're thinking deeply about in terms of how we can do a better job," a spokesperson for Google said.

Despite the admission of the challenging nature of the issue, Google said it in no way reflected the company's own views.

"Search is a reflection of the content that exists on the web. The fact that hate sites may appear in search results in no way means that Google endorses these views."

Shortly after the report from the Guardian emerged, the search results in the US were altered, but the post from white supremacist site Stromfront remains the top result in the UK.

The journalist who compiled the report, Carole Cadwalladr, said Google's actions were akin to disseminating "hate speech".

"It's selling ads against these searches," she said. "It's profiting from Holocaust denial. Its algorithm is helping Stormfront reach new recruits."