With people expressing their indignation and leaders cutting across party lines slamming Google, it quickly removed Kannada "as the ugliest language in India" and apologised to the people saying the search result didn't reflect its opinion.
Karnataka Minister for Kannada, Culture and Forest, Aravind Limbavali told reporters that a legal notice would be served to Google for showing such a solution thereto question
Later, he took to Twitter to precise his outrage and demanded an apology from Google to Kannada and Kannadigas.
Kannada language features a history of its own, having inherit existence as many as 2,500 years ago, the minister said and added that the language has been the pride of Kannadigas through the ages.
Showing Kannada in poor light "...is merely an effort by Google to insult this pride of Kannadigas. I demand an apology from @Google ASAP to Kannada, Kannadigas. action are going to be taken against Google for maligning the image of our beautiful language!" Limbavali tweeted.
When contacted, a Google spokesperson said, "search isn't perfect. Sometimes, the way content is described on the web can yield surprising results to specific queries."
"We know this is often not ideal, but we take swift corrective action once we are made conscious of a problem and are continually working to enhance our algorithms. Naturally, these aren't reflective of the opinions of Google, and that we apologise for the misunderstanding and hurting any sentiments."
Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy denounced Google during a series of tweets for the outrageous answer to the language question. He sought to understand why Google "behaves in an irresponsible manner" in terms of language. Others including the BJP's Bengaluru Central MP, P C Mohan slammed Google and asked it to apologise.
Sharing the screenshot of the search on his Twitter handle, Mohan said Karnataka is home to the good Vijayanagara empire and therefore the Kannada language features a rich heritage, an excellent legacy and a singular culture.
"One of the worlds oldest languages, Kannada had great scholars who wrote epics much before Chaucer was born within the 14th century. Apologise @GoogleIndia."