Google Translate Bug Turns 'Yes' into 'Forks' in Online Surveys
2025-03-26
A bizarre bug in a Pew Research Center's 2024 online survey replaced the 'yes' option with 'forks' for some respondents. The investigation revealed a 'lightbox popup' design feature caused some browsers to misinterpret the English survey as Spanish, triggering Google Translate's auto-translation. Google Translate, however, contained a peculiar error: translating 'yes' from Spanish to English resulted in 'forks'. Pew Research Center resolved the issue by disabling the browser's translation function and improving its programming. Analysis showed the bug had a negligible impact on the survey data.