MugShots.com Says Google’s Algorithm Change Puts Americans At Risk

About a week ago, Google released an algorithm update we named the Google’s MugShot Algorithm. This update specifically targeted sites ranking well for names and displayed their arrest photo, name and details.

The new algorithm update impacted sites such as Mugshots, BustedMugshots and JustMugshots. Mugshots.com responded to Google’s update with a blog post calling Google’s change a security risk to Americans.

Mugshots said, that “Google’s decision puts every person potentially at risk who performs a Google search on someone.”

They claim by not showing this arrest data for a Google search on a person’s name, it can potentially put someone in harms way.

Thanks to Google’s algorithm change, there is now an enormous public safety blind spot that puts every person in the country at potential risk who performs a Google search on someone with a criminal history—that number is in the millions. When the issue is viewed from the general public’s perspective, in contrast to the perspective of individuals who have been arrested, it becomes clear that Google’s decision leaves unsuspecting members of the general public at risk.

I doubt Google will change course with this algorithm change. Google obviously took their time to build this new change and made a conscious, not a quick, decision with this change.

Related Stories:

• Google Launches Fix To Stop Mugshot Sites From Ranking: Google’s MugShot Algorithm
• Opinion: Why Google Should Crack Down Harder On The Mugshot Extortion Racket