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AlgorithmWatch finds Google's election AI Overviews thin and skewed

AlgorithmWatch used the Google Search Researcher Result API, opened under Article 40(12) of the EU Digital Services Act, to run 4,480 searches about the 2026 state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. netzpolitik.org reports AlgorithmWatch ran almost 4,500 election-related queries in July. AI Overviews appeared on 39.1 per cent of election searches against 65.3 per cent of non-political queries. Google has shown the overviews on about half of all searches in Germany since early 2025.

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AlgorithmWatch ran 4,480 searches on the 2026 state elections

AlgorithmWatch used the Google Search Researcher Result API, opened under Article 40(12) of the EU Digital Services Act, to run 4,480 searches about the 2026 state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. netzpolitik.org reports that AlgorithmWatch worked through Google's Search Researcher Result API, opened to researchers under the Digital Services Act, and in July ran almost 4,500 election-related queries, then evaluated the overviews and their sources. AI Overviews appeared on 39.1 per cent of election searches. They appeared on 65.3 per cent of non-political queries. Google has shown the overviews on about half of all searches in Germany since early 2025 and does not say when they appear. Questions about opinion polls consistently returned no overview.[1], [2]

AfD queries received overviews 24 per cent of the time

Questions about the AfD received an overview 24 per cent of the time. The rate for the other parties stayed higher than the AfD rate. About half of the cited links came from ten domains. The most frequent source was YouTube, which Google owns. netzpolitik.org reports that Google draws on a limited range of sources and does not phrase the overviews neutrally. AlgorithmWatch calls the result an information roulette. Election questions drew overviews markedly less often than non-political ones, which the group reads as Google applying special election measures whose criteria it does not disclose.[1], [2]

CDU overviews used positive language 81.5 per cent of the time

The study reports that 81.5 per cent of CDU overviews used positive language. Positive language appeared in none of the AfD overviews on that measure. Outright factual errors were rare in the overviews AlgorithmWatch measured. Flattering wording was common in those overviews. netzpolitik.org reports that Google does not phrase the overviews neutrally. AlgorithmWatch says such an arbitrary gate to political content can harm opinion-forming.[1], [2]

References

  1. News sourceTHE DECODERAlgorithmWatch measures Google's election AI Overviews and finds thin, skewed sourcing↩1↩2↩3
  2. News sourcenetzpolitik.orgAlgorithmWatch calls Google's election AI Overviews an "information roulette" before three German state votes↩1↩2↩3
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