Via Valleywag and The Guardian, Iran is upset with Google over ranking a Google Video too high in the Google results. The video titled Tabriz – Azerbaijan describes that the ancient city Tabriz is located in Southern Azerbaijan, suggestion it shouldn’t be part of Iran. A Google search on [tabriz azerbaijan] shows the Google Video as (currently) number one with a snippet that reads; “This video shows Tabriz, a city in Southern Azerbaijan, currently in the territory of Iran.” A search for [tabriz] shows this result at the bottom of the first page or top of second page. Iran is upset with Google over this and feels that it is a US centric method of undermining Iran.
Postscript From Danny: To be really clear about how absurd this is,
it’s not Google directly suggesting that Tabriz is not somehow part of Iran.
It’s a description in a video that someone uploaded to Google Video. Where does
Google itself think Tabriz is
located at? According to Google Maps — which Google runs directly —
firmly within the boundaries of the country of Iran.