Google’s Intersection between Popularity and Validity in Ranking News Articles
Recently Google came under fire because it displayed a false news story about the Las Vegas shooting at the top of a search about Las Vegas under its “Top stories” category. The story was a page from 4chan which claimed that the wrong person was responsible for the shooting. Google claimed that it displayed this false information because its search algorithm saw a flurry of activity around a name that previously hadn’t had a lot, so it pegged the story as breaking news. Google lies at an interesting intersection where it wants to display news as quickly as possible, but in that it has to draw information from less legitimate sources. If it drew from sources that it verified were accurate and trusted, it wouldn’t be able to display all the content it wanted.
The article cited that Google has to choose whether it wants to publish the most popular and influential content, or ensure that the content its posting is truthful and accurate. Going down either direction can be as dangerous as it is easy and Google has a lot of power and responsibility in influencing how people think and how their minds are set. It is hard to toe the line between both sides, as Google has a responsibility to each. Google’s current news page currently does the latter and only runs its algorithm on a defined set of pages to display content, so the article also argues that if Google’s idea to make its “Top stories” box only for verified content then it is basically obsolete.
By labeling the box “Top stories” Google is putting a larger than normal emphasis on the content that shows up there. People trust Google, so when Google stamps something as a top story, people are more inclined to take it as truth. The article argues that if Google were to rename the box or have a disclaimer attached to it, then searchers would know that whats published there aren’t articles that Google necessarily has verified as accurate. Often it is sensational news that that garners a lot of attention in a short period of time, which the top story area would peg as something to display.
Google has an interesting choice to make about how to further refine its searches. Google has been working heavily on its AI system, and in so it will have to look at the intersection of popularity and value that show up in its Top stories, and decide how to balance the two.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/3/16413082/google-4chan-las-vegas-shooting-top-stories-algorithm-mistake