'Bankrupt' man drops Google autocomplete legal action
A surgeon from Port Macquarie has withdrawn an action raised against search giant Google, which claimed he had been defamed by its auto complete function.
The search result has now changed
A search against his name, Guy Hingston, was found to autocomplete with the word “bankrupt” as soon as searchers reached "Guy Hin ..."
Many Google searches have prompted curious, often litigious results, leading to a popular internet and Twitter meme.
"I decided it was better to focus on my primary role as an oncoplastic breast surgeon," Hingston said, as he withdrew his action.He had been seeking $75,000 for economic loss as a claimed result of lost clientele.
It has been reported that Dr Hingston had been bankrupted on August 4, 2009, but this was later declared invalid.
Google says that autocomplete results are "a reflection of the search activity of all web users and the content of web pages indexed by Google".
At the time of publication, the Google search on his name no longer autocompletes with the word bankrupt.