Changes include keeping blacklists of sites other than those whose bans are required by law; filtering out controversial autofill suggestions in search queries; and favouring big businesses—in one case, prioritizing the results of eBay, a major advertiser, The Journal reported. Google disputed the claims: “We do today what we have done all along, provide relevant results from the most reliable sources available,” a spokesperson said. (The Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: According to the investigation, Google made over 3,200 changes to its algorithm last year, which is at least 540 per cent more than in 2010. The findings run counter to Google’s public position that it doesn’t editorially influence what its users see; a company blog post reads, “We do not use human curation to collect or arrange the results on a page.” The news comes one day after CNBC reported that the current antitrust investigation into the company—comprised of 50 attorneys general, led by Texas’s AG—is expanding to cover its search and Android divisions.