The Search Engine Rountable is reporting that Google has purchased a search ad that is placed above the image result for Michelle Obama.
Almost two weeks ago if you searched for Michelle Obama in Google"s image search you would find a racist caricature depicting the first lady as a monkey. Last Thursday Google removed the image but the image has since returned and Google has purchased a search advert above the image results explaining "search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet."
The image has caused a great deal of debate on Google"s own support forums. Google"s official explanation and stance is: "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."
Google has a history of mishaps where images and links make it to the top of searches. Usually these are due to individuals exploiting flaws in the algorithms that Google uses to index web pages. At the time of writing if you go to google.com and search for "search" and hit I"m feeling lucky it will take you to Bing.