Google addresses search engine's bias against women's sports

The GIST: Google has finally addressed its search engine’s bias against women’s sports, the company announced Tuesday — just in time for the 2023 Women’s World Cup (WWC). Smart.

The details: To be more inclusive of women’s sports, Google’s search engine optimization (SEO) will be undergoing big changes. Now, the information boxes at the top of the results page will be improved to feature women’s sports, expanding coverage to 380 leagues.

• Other changes include easier access to live streams and highlights for top women’s leagues (including the WNBA and Women’s Premier League) and will feature current and trending women’s events in suggested search results.

The background: Google has been receiving backlash on the issue for quite some time, most famously over naming male football star Cristiano Ronaldo as the all-time international goal scorer. Spoiler alert: it’s not him.

• And since Google has a market share of 92.24%, that’s widespread misinformation for billions of users.

Zooming out: Aside from fighting unconscious bias against women’s sports, Google’s update will hopefully also boost funding toward women’s leagues as more eyes will drive metrics most commonly used to secure funding (interest, viewers, etc.). Cue will.i.am and Britney.