Google is adding a new label to search results for news stories, interviews, announcements and press releases that are frequently cited by other media outlets in an effort to elevate original reporting. Why it matters: Google’s search algorithm is designed to prioritize pages that are the most relevant and useful for users based on their unique queries. Sometimes, the most relevant and useful pages aren’t the source of original information, but they cite the pages that are. Google wants to help point users to those pages.
Anyone searching for the Federal Communications Commission’s home page on Google will have to do some searching. While that “FCC.gov” home page has typically come up on the first Google search page — take it from a reporter who has Googled “FCC” thousands of times — in the past few days it has not shown up at all.
Google today threatened to make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government goes ahead with plans to make tech giants pay for news content. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison quickly hit back, saying “we don’t respond to threats.” Above, Mel Silva (r), the managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, appears via a video link during a Senate inquiry into a mandatory code of conduct proposed by the government at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, Jan. 22. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
An audit reveals that Google News sends readers — and advertising dollars — away from local news outlets.
