Sweden’s language watchdog in Google row

Sweden’s language watchdog has accused Google of trying to control the Swedish language in a dispute over the definition of the term “ungoogleable.”

The word – “ogooglebar” – made the Language Council of Sweden’s 2012 list of words that aren’t in the Swedish dictionary but have entered common use. The council defined it as something “that cannot be found on the web with a search engine”.

But Google objected, asking for changes and a disclaimer saying Google is a trademark.

Rather than changing the definition, the council deleted the word from the list, stressing “our displeasure with Google’s attempts to control the language.”