Google’s search engine is currently testing a new feature that warns of potentially unreliable search results. This is intended to inform users better and to encourage them to do more detailed research. This is how Google wants to protect its users from any incorrect or unsuitable information. Google does not filter the search results, it only provides a hint.
Examples are new trends in social networks or new events, such as an unidentified flying object or the mysterious death of a celebrity. In such cases it will take some time before further information is published.
No rating, just a warning
Google confirmed to Recode, that these Function has been tested for around a week. The notice does not classify the search results as correct or incorrect, but only warns of an as yet unclear situation and that more information may be available later. As usual with new functions, Google has so far only shown the warning to a small proportion of searchers.
Evelyn Douek, a law professor at Harvard University who deals with online expression and regulation, welcomes Google’s new role. They believe it can reduce the premature dissemination of unreliable information. The warning would give users context, because breaking news is almost always incomplete. It is good to remind users of this.
However, it is still unclear how Google’s warning notice works exactly. For example, it is not known which sources Google considers reliable and how many reliable search results it needs before the warning is no longer displayed. The number of search results is not a criterion, because Google’s warning appeared even for over 11 million results.
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