Google is apologizing after it temporarily called the word "Jew" an "offensive verb" in its search results.
The company came under fire when Twitter users began sharing screenshots of their searches of the word. The top definition appeared to read "bargain with someone in a miserly or petty way," and it was categorized as "offensive."
Nonprofit organization StopAntisemitism called the search result "grotesque" and "unacceptable."
Other users allege that upon clicking "translations and more definitions," they were told that the origin of the verb "Jew" stems from a method of moneylending in the 19th century.
Google responded to StopAntisemitism's tweet and several others apologizing, saying it "licenses definitions from third-party dictionary experts" and only displays "offensive terms by default if they are the main meaning of a term."
Our apologies. Google licenses definitions from third-party dictionary experts. We only display offensive definitions by default if they are the main meaning of a term. As this is not the case here, we have blocked this & passed along feedback to the partner for further review.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) December 27, 2022
The verb definition appears to have been wiped, and a search of the word "Jew" now offers the noun definition first, reading "a member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to Abraham." It is not immediately clear at what point Tuesday Google made the adjustment.