SAN FRANCISCO, June 29 ― American search giant Google is developing a new feature to warn users about unreliable information in its search results. This new tool in the fight against fake news will soon be available in Europe.
Google is making a slight change to its search indexing algorithm in a bid to help fight online disinformation. As an essential tool for anyone looking to boost their position and visibility on the internet, search engine optimisation, or SEO, remains a key line of attack when it comes to getting content noticed online. However, search indexing is no guarantee of quality. And with some 130 billion pages indexed by the search engine, some results are inevitably more reliable than others. Now, Google is offering a new feature to help users identify questionable results, regardless of their position in the search results ranking.
Access to relevant and reliable information is becoming increasingly important in today's society. For many, Google has become the first go-to reflex for finding information quickly, whether on topics that come up in conversation or for work. In this sense, the American company will now warn internet users via a notice when online information lacks reliable sources, especially when a subject is new or evolving quickly.
The new feature won't tell users whether information is trustworthy or not, but will suggest that users try searching again later to get more information on breaking or fast-moving topics. In order to offer this feature, Google has created a new system for detecting quickly evolving subjects that do not have a sufficiently robust range of sources.
Google hopes to create a more reliable environment for its users, allowing them to evaluate for themselves the relevance of the information they find online. For now, the service is only available in English for searches in the United States. It should soon be rolled out to Europe and its functionality may also be expanded. ― ETX Studio
