Amazon Changes ‘Abortion’ Queries

Posted on Mar 21, 2006

Until recently, a user who typed in “abortion” received a prompt asking, “Did you mean adoption?”

The online retailer has since erased the prompt.

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AP:

SEATTLE—Amazon.com said Monday it had modified the way its search engine handles queries for the term “abortion” after receiving an e-mail complaint that the results appeared biased.

Until the recent change, a user who visited the Seattle internet retailer and typed in the word “abortion” received a prompt asking, “Did you mean adoption?” followed by search results for “abortion.”

Spokeswoman Patty Smith said the automated prompt was purely based on technology, and that no human had made the decision to show the question.

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