Google will presently tell clients when search results are quickly changing up a breaking story. A few searches will presently raise an warning that “it looks like these results are changing quickly,” and a subheading will clarify that “if this topic is new, it can sometimes take time for results to be added by reliable sources.” In a blog post, the organization recommends that clients should return some other time when it’s found more outcomes.
The notification is at first showing up on US-based English-language results “when a topic is rapidly evolving and a range of sources hasn’t yet weighed in.” Google will extend the tool’s presence to other markets in the coming months.
“While Google Search will always be there with the most useful results we can provide, sometimes the reliable information you’re searching for just isn’t online yet,” the company explains. “This can be particularly true for breaking news or emerging topics, when the information that’s published first may not be the most reliable.” Recode reported on the feature yesterday, following up on a tweet from Stanford Internet Observatory researcher Renee DiResta.
An example Google search screenshot features the query “ufo filmed traveling 106 mph,” an obvious reference to a new tabloid story around a 2016 UFO sighting in Wales. (At present, that exact query item doesn’t really include the warning.) “Someone had gotten this police report video released out in Wales, and it’s had a little bit bit of press coverage. But there’s still not a lot about it,” Google search public liaison Danny Sullivan told Recode. “But people are probably searching for it, they may be going around on social media — so we can tell it’s starting to trend. And we can also tell that there’s not a lot of necessarily great stuff that’s out there. And we also think that maybe new stuff will come along.”
That unconventional model to the side, Google has inadvertently showcased incorrect information after mass shooting occasions — where early authority reports are inaccurate and deliberate misinformation is common. (This is in some cases exacerbated by “data voids,” or keywords that have not many search results and can be effortlessly hijacked by bad actors.) This notice will not really stop bad content from surfacing, and it’s anything but clear precisely how Google decides an adequate scope of sources. However, it could eliminate a portion of the bogus authenticity that high Google placement can present on ahead of schedule, temperamental search results.