Dr. Google is always in, but for Spanish speakers searching for health information online, the advice Google gives isn’t always helpful. Sometimes, it’s downright terrifying. Research by Rutgers public health and information science experts found that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google search autocompletes – what the technology company calls “predictions” – returned different results in Spanish than in English. In many cases, the suggested Spanish search terms were more fear- and stress-inducing than the English equivalent. For instance, the researchers found that typing “coronavirus is” into Google yielded search predictions including “it contagious,” “man made,” and “airborne,” while in Spanish, “coronavirus es” prompted “mortal,” “falso” (fake) and “peligroso” (dangerous). To read the full story.