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Have you ever typed a word into a search engine and received a response, “Did you mean___?” followed by an alternative spelling of the word you entered.
Apparently, that’s been happening to folks who typed “abortion” into Amazon’s search engine. The prompt responded, “Did you mean adoption?”
In an Associated Press article, Amazon.com spokeswoman Patty Smith explained that “Adoption and abortion are the same except for two keystrokes” and that they’re also somewhat related terms. People who search for “abortion” also often search for “adoption.”
The person who submitted the complaint commented that the prompt demonstrates bias against abortion because it doesn’t work the other way around – if you type “adoption,” it doesn’t ask, “Did you mean abortion?”
Amazon has since modified the way its search engine handles the queries for “abortion” and “adoption” by removing the prompt. Now, if you search for “abortion,” you’ll be presented with “adoption” and “pro-life” under the heading “related searches.”
