You know that “autocomplete” function on Google?  You start to type something in and it offers suggestions (often wrong) on how to complete your search request?  Well, it put Google on the losing end of a lawsuit.

Not that the Silicon Valley mega-giant can’t afford the $3,100 judgment leveled by the Tokyo District Court.

A Tokyo man sued because when Google users begin typing his name, the search engine would automatically suggest criminal acts he did not commit.  Soon after he noticed this, he lost his job and has had difficulty finding new employment.  The unidentified plaintiff successfully argued that’s slander.

The court did not rule that autocomplete was directly responsible for the loss of the plaintiff's job.

Google says it’s studying the case (possibly while rolling around in a giant pile of money and singing “La la la, I don’t care”). 

But it’s at least the third autocomplete lawsuit Google has lost, the other two being in France and Italy.  And Australian surgeon Dr. Guy Hingston of Port Macquarie is currently suing Google because he claims autocomplete falsely labels him as “bankrupt”, which he assures is not the case.