Google is rolling out a new tag in search results for pages recognized as frequently cited sources.
The label will appear next to pages in Top Stories and is designed to help people find credible information.
Google’s new “top-cited sources” label comes just in time for International Fact-Checking Day on April 2.
It’s part of a larger effort to help people spot misinformation, as Google explains in a blog post. The research company affirms its commitment to supporting the fact-checking ecosystem over the long term:
“The widespread availability of information – from all kinds of sources – is ideal for learning new facts and perspectives from around the world. But it can also make it difficult to distinguish between credible and untrustworthy information.
Earlier this week, Sundar announced that Google would invest $10 million to combat misinformation about the realities and facts of the war in Ukraine. This includes new partnerships with think tanks and civil society organizations to conduct region-specific research on misinformation and disinformation and cash grants to support fact-checking networks and non-profit organizations. lucrative.
Learn more about the change to Google search results to combat misinformation.
Label of the most cited sources in Google search results
To help recognize original reports and direct searchers to reliable information, Google is introducing a “Highly Cited” label in search results.
Google will assign the label to web pages that have been linked from other news outlets.
See what this looks like in the example below:
Also note the extra prominence the highly cited page receives in Top Stories, taking up the full width of the screen instead of just a slot in the carousel.
In addition to helping people identify pages that other news publishers consider relevant, Google explains how this feature has the potential to improve original reporting:
“Suppose a local news agency publishes an investigative report on issues in your local school district. The story is so important that it is picked up by many other media outlets. But what if you didn’t see this original story, which had a unique context for local residents? We’re introducing a way to help you identify stories that have been cited frequently by other news outlets, giving you an easy way to find the most useful or relevant information for a news story.“
The “Highly Cited” label will soon be launched on mobile in English for the United States. It will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks.
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