# I wish google would quit fucking telling me to call 988 each time I do a search for anything controversial **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2024, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092 "2024-08-01T04:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/21 "2024-08-01T17:14:30Z")
There is the problem of something being so common that people don’t look at it. It does sound like Google may be over using it. But I find it hard to get mad about. They’re trying to help. And there is almost certainly a way to hide it if you want to, using your adblock. I find the pointless AI responses more of a problem. You can’t trust 'em. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/22 "2024-08-02T06:49:46Z")
For what it’s worth, 988 was extremely helpful to me when I was at my lowest point in December of 2022. I called it eight times in eight consecutive days. (Ultimately I ended up going into the psych hospital, but they saved my life long enough for me to get myself there.) ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/23 "2024-08-02T12:21:00Z")
FWIW, I am using AdGuard, and get these on my desktop. I have no idea whether or not these appear on my phone (I generally don’t Google things on my phone, because I prefer a desktop). My browser is Vivaldi, which also ads its own ad-blocking and privacy-enhancing features. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/24 "2024-08-02T14:26:20Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > For what it’s worth, 988 was extremely helpful to me when I was at my lowest point in December of 2022. I called it eight times in eight consecutive days. > > (Ultimately I ended up going into the psych hospital, but they saved my life long enough for me to get myself there.) I’m glad it helped you, we need numbers like 911 or 988 that people can call when they need help. But imagine if every time you tried to research what ammunition options you had to use in a shotgun google told you to call 911, or if everytime you tried to google the number of prisoners in America, google told you to call 911. It gets annoying after a few hundred times. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/25 "2024-08-02T14:52:16Z")
Do you have any parental controls on? Searches can be limited by them. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/26 "2024-08-04T02:25:14Z")
Nope, but i did just search ‘can trazodone stop a bad lsd trip’ due to its action on 5ht2a receptor and i got the 988 warning again ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/27 "2024-08-04T10:53:39Z")
It’s just you. I just searched “can trazodone stop a bad lsd trip’ due to its action on 5ht2a receptor” (with Trazadone misspelled like you did) and got no warning. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/28 "2024-08-04T11:19:00Z")
I got it, with the misspelling, but without the quotes. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/29 "2024-08-04T11:22:51Z")
Yeah, now I’m sure Google doesn’t care about me. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/30 "2024-08-04T12:53:03Z")
Trazodone is the proper spelling. Either way it was a voice search, not a typed one. I get the 988 warning more often on google voice search on my phone vs typed search on my laptop. > **[Trazodone](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trazodone)** > > Trazodone, sold under many brand names, is an antidepressant medication. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and insomnia. The medication is taken orally. > Common side effects include dry mouth, feeling faint, vomiting, and headache. More serious side effects may include suicide, mania, irregular heart rate, and pathologically prolonged erections. It is unclear if use during pregnancy or breastfeeding is safe. It is a phenylpiperazine compound of the serotonin ant... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/31 "2024-08-04T13:45:07Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Trazodone is the proper spelling. Huh. My dog’s bottle is labeled Trazadone, but searching now I see it both ways. [https://www.drugs.com/misspellings/trazadone.html](https://www.drugs.com/misspellings/trazadone.html) Yes, you are indeed correct! I’ll notify my pharmacist about their misspelling. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/32 "2024-08-04T15:04:21Z")
I got a similar screen when I searched for “Suicide Is Painless” on YouTube (owned by Google). I offer this as a data point, not necesarily a complaint. “Suicide Is Painless” is, for those who don’t know, the theme song to the TV show _MASH_ (left out the asterisks because they fuck with the coding), which was itself used in the movie that inspired the series. Kind of a miserable dirge truthfully, but I think it got tagged to be the movie’s theme song because a sub-plot involves a suicide (sort of). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/33 "2024-08-04T16:23:29Z")
From wiki > The song was written for Ken Prymus, the actor playing Private Seidman, to sing during the faux-suicide of Walter “Painless Pole” Waldowski ([John Schuck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Schuck)) in the film’s “Last Supper” scene.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless?useskin=vector#cite_note-1) Director [Robert Altman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Altman) had two stipulations about the song for composer Johnny Mandel: it had to be called “Suicide Is Painless” and it had to be the “stupidest song ever written”.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless?useskin=vector#cite_note-2) Altman attempted to write the lyric himself, but, upon finding it too difficult for his “45-year-old brain” to write something “stupid” enough,[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless?useskin=vector#cite_note-3) he gave the task to his 15-year-old-son Michael, who reportedly wrote the lyrics in five minutes.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless?useskin=vector#cite_note-4)[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless?useskin=vector#cite_note-5) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/34 "2024-08-04T20:00:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It’s just you. I just searched “can trazodone stop a bad lsd trip’ due to its action on 5ht2a receptor” (with Trazadone misspelled like you did) and got no warning. ⁢ I wonder if this is some A/B testing, or if the OP has done something that makes Google more likely to flag them. * * * Anyways, I figured out how to block it. Just use your adblock to add a filter, and add `#raw`, or manually edit your list and add `www.google.com###raw` to your list of manual filters. Point is, the element you want to hide is `#raw`. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/35 "2024-08-05T05:43:40Z")
I’m a little surprised that “988” is news to people for the simple reason that it was heavily advertised locally (in Hawai’i State) two or three years ago, pointing out that our cell phone entries would not work once 988 became active if they didn’t include the area code. It seemed like kind of a PITA at the time, but it has rarely been a problem. When the PTB informed us that all our cell phone numbers needed to include the area code, I made sure to add it to a few numbers that I call constantly. So, no problem there. Now, on rare occasion I get a message of some sort reprimanding me if I use a pre-entered number (from several years ago, obviously) that is only the last 7 digits with no default 808 area code. When that happens - once a month or less - I just update my cell phone data base. I must be missing something, because to me this is not hard at all, and certainly I am happy to have a way to make it easier for desperate people to call a suicide hotline. As tradeoffs go, that seems like a no-brainer. ETA: sorry, I think my comments are contributing to a hijack. The OP was talking about Google searches, and I am responding to a different but related issue of how well 988 is known as a suicide hotline - not the OP’s concern, but one that has been raised in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/36 "2024-08-05T06:53:33Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m a little surprised that “988” is news to people for the simple reason that it was heavily advertised locally (in Hawai’i State) two or three years ago, pointing out that our cell phone entries would not work once 988 became active if they didn’t include the area code. Most of the USA had already made this change because their area codes had run out of numbers and received overlays. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/37 "2024-08-05T06:58:36Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Most of the USA had already made this change because their area codes had run out of numbers and received overlays. Okay, but … these locations that had already made the change couldn’t be arsed to do PSAs about the upcoming 988 option? I’m not surprised at all to read posts that suggest Hawai’i was behind the times, but still … at least here we had the benefit of being told about 988 and what it might mean for the community. Should those places that weren’t stragglers/hadn’t run out of numbers taken it upon themselves to advertise 988 anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/38 "2024-08-05T11:47:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Yeah, now I’m sure Google doesn’t care about me. Maybe Google has their own version of a “No Fly List”, the “No Search List” LOL ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/39 "2024-10-24T21:25:13Z")
The age of modern advertising has been with us for so long, I would have thought the ability to ignore messages intended for other people was by now a universally ingrained skill. I’m just as baffled by people who complain about trigger warnings. Just because you don’t need that info doesn’t mean nobody else does. ETA: Sorry about resurrecting an old thread; I must have followed the link at the bottom of a current thread. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092/40 "2024-10-25T12:29:19Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I must have followed the link at the bottom of a current thread. If you’re looking at the “Related” list, those are threads that an AI has decided are topically relevant to the current thread (and is often right) but many of those are years or decades old and don’t particularly need reviving. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-google-would-quit-fucking-telling-me-to-call-988-each-time-i-do-a-search-for-anything-controversial/1005092.md?page=3)