Connect with us

Entertainment

How a Monday Night Football mishap may have exposed deep problems with Google Search

For nearly as long as the internet has been around, there’s a particular rhythm for any curious person with a WiFi connection. You have a question, you Google it, you get an answer. But a mishap during this week’s Monday Night Football and the NFL’s onside kick rules has show just how unreliable Google can be these days — and how the search giant can help spread misinformation.

The confusion was sparked by an unfortunate turn of events. During the waning moments of the MNF matchup the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — one of two ESPN games last evening — Bucs star receiver Chris Godwin suffered a gruesome injury with his team trailing by 10 points. Fans wondered why such a star player was on the field at all at when the team was down by two scores with less than a minute remaining in the game.

“We’re just trying to win the ballgame,” Tampa head coach Todd Bowles told reporters. “We’re still down 10, trying to get extra points, kick another onside kick. It just happened.”

That quote, in part, sparked the confusion. You see, the NFL revamped its kickoff before this season and changed, well, everything, including the rules for onside kicks. Surprise onside kicks were effectively banned, for instance, because the new “dynamic” kickoff requires the kicking team to declare to the refs they’re trying an onside kick. Amid all these changes — and the NFL’s penchant for making rules complicated — it tracks that confusion might arise.

Crucially, at one point there was a proposed rule change limiting how many onside kicks a team could attempt. The rule was not adopted — trailing teams can attempt unlimited onside kicks in the fourth quarter — but it did appear in an article in Sporting News that was ultimately corrected. But lots of folks online were under the false impression that, actually, the Bucs had exhausted their onside kick chances and left Godwin in the game despite that fact.

To recap: Viewers reasonably thought the Buccaneers were putting a star player’s health at risk in a hopeless situation, all because they mistakenly believed teams had a limited number of attempts to regain possession. In reality, NFL rules allow the Buccaneers to keep trying late-game kicks aimed at recovering the control of the ball. None of this is easy to understand, but it looks like Google may have made matters worse.

In fact, Google could actually be to blame for all the confusion among viewers. For some reason, Google searches on Monday night resulted in faulty information. After seeing the confusion while watching the game, I searched the rules for myself. Google spat out a clipped answer at the top of the search, citing the corrected Sporting News article, with the wrong information that a team was limited to two onside kicks per game. It’s not clear when, exactly, Sporting News made its correction, so it’s possible Google was slow in simply catching up to a correction made by the outlet. But Google showed me an answer no longer present in the article itself.

Mashable Top Stories

But Google’s AI-powered search — a quite controversial feature — got it wrong as well. Its AI overview told me an NFL team was limited to one onside kick per game. It’s almost funny to not only get the information wrong, but to get it wrong with two different incorrect answers — though it appears the AI overview was different for other users.

Mashable reached out to Google for comment and will update the story if and when we receive a response.

google search showing incorrect onside kick rules

A quite faulty result from Google search.
Credit: Screenshot: Google

a google ai overview incorrectly stating teams only get one onside kick

Credit: Screenshot: Google

While this situation is relatively low stakes, it is a frightening representation of how quickly misinformation spreads online — especially with Google’s aid. Things move fast. It’s not just random people who get tripped up. For instance, a respected sports publication like Awful Announcing shared the wrong information, which, of course, would confuse more folks scrolling.

tweet showing awful announcing getting corrected on wrong information about onside rule


Credit: Screenshot: X

It’s not hard to imagine the person running Awful Announcing’s X account doing a quick Google, getting fed false info, then posting it. Ultimately Awful Announcing’s post was corrected — as were Google’s results — but the misinformation had already been spread.

Seasoned NFL reporters and even the guy who invented the new kind of kickoff were getting mixed up.

Granted, it does not help that the NFL has a way of making a terribly complicated rulebook. That opens avenues for human errors that trickle their way into Google’s results.

But do you know what else is complicated and ripe for human errors and fabrication? Politics. International conflict. Climate change. What happens when the familiar muscle memory of Googling can no longer be trusted?

As Mashable has covered in detail, Google search has run into numerous problems lately. The internet is flooded with low-quality content looking to answer common search queries. Court documents and reporting have suggested that perhaps Google has become more focused on ad dollars than reliable search results. And, let’s not forget, AI search overview’s rollout got a pretty disastrous response from the public. In total, it stands to reason that folks should double check anything they Google.

So yes, the rules of an NFL game aren’t terribly important in the grand scheme of things. But the ease with which bad information can spread via Google is much bigger than anything that happened between the Bucs and Ravens.


source

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Entertainment

Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love

Mother figures are the backbone of the world. Yours may be your biological mother, or maybe she’s your mother-in-law, your best friend’s mom, or simply someone whose motherly instinct has helped you through hard times.

Moms teach you the adulting necessities, give advice even if the problem is your fault, and above all, they put up with your shit and (almost) never complain.

The game plan here isn’t just to snag the last bouquet at CVS just so you’re not the kid who forgot Mother’s Day (but definitely also get flowers). And you don’t even need to spend a lot of money. (Peep our list of Mother’s Day gifts that cost less than $50. Want even more cheap gift ideas?

Skip the generic mugs and show your appreciation with a gift picked just for her: Whether it’s something to make a part of her life easier, something she’s mentioned wanting in passing, or simply something to make her feel like a damn queen, you can’t put a price on everything she’s done for you, but heartfelt gifts certainly help.

After all, they say “No matter how hard you try, you always end up like your mother.” But is that even a bad thing?


source

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Ban subscriptions and get Microsoft Office 2024 for life for just £121

TL;DR: Grab Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for PC or Mac for just £120.54 through June 1.


You wouldn’t keep paying for Netflix if you could own your favorite shows, right? So why are you still subscribing to Office apps you use every day? Microsoft 365’s price keeps going up, but there’s finally a way to break free — and it’ll cost you way less in the long run.

Microsoft Office 2024 is the answer you’ve been looking for. Instead of monthly payments, simply pay £120.54 once and be set for life (reg. £188.37). It’s that simple. And, yes, this lifetime download works for PC or Mac.

What’s included?

This license comes with: 

  • Word

  • Excel

  • PowerPoint

  • Outlook

  • OneNote 

The newest version of Microsoft Office is a little different from Microsoft 365. But just because you’re switching to a lifetime license doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on some of the most recent updates. Word and Excel both still have AI integrations for text suggestions and smart data analysis, and PowerPoint still has improved tools for recorded presentations. 

Once you’ve redeemed your purchase, you can install your apps on one computer. After that, they’re yours to use however you want. No more subscription fees or sudden price hikes to worry about. 

Why rent when you can own? 

Mashable Deals

Get a Microsoft Office lifetime license on sale for £120.54 with no coupon needed.

StackSocial prices subject to change.


source

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 9, 2025

Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

Gibberish.

Mashable Top Stories

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today’s Wordle is…

TRIPE.

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.


source

Continue Reading