Image by Leon Neal

Two weeks ago, the Guardian reported that the top Google search result for “Did the Holocaust happen?” was an article on the neo-Nazi website Stormfront titled “Top 10 reasons why the Holocaust didn’t happen.” The story was picked up by numerous outlets and drew widespread anger (at least from everyone who isn’t a Nazi). When Google was asked to comment, however, a spokesperson stated that Google would not tamper with the search results: “We do not remove content from our search results, except in limited cases such as illegal content, malware and violations of our webmaster guidelines.”

Well, it appears as if Google has reconsidered. Gizmodo reported yesterday that the search engine has decided to alter the search results, pushing the Stormfront article further down the first page. Now, when users search “Did the Holocaust happen?” they must first scroll through articles about the search controversy, two articles by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a wikipedia page on Holocaust denial before they arrive at the Stormfront article.

The company told Digital Trends that, despite the correction, search results are still sorted automatically. Google workers did not manually remove the Holocaust denial sites but rather “made improvements to [their] algorithm that will help surface more high quality credible content on the web.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Jake Romm is the Forward’s culture intern. Contact him at [email protected]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount