Google will fact-check fake news in its search results

Google debuted a real-time fact-checking feature for its search results Friday morning, a new functionality that prominently displays relevant fact-checks from services like PolitiFact and Snopes at the top of results for stories known to be false or misleading. The fact-check information will be in a separate box distinct from the main list of options, similar to how recipes are already displayed:

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"188175","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"510","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"600"}}]]

(Google)

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

"This information won't be available for every search result, and there may be search result pages where different publishers checked the same claim and reached different conclusions," the search engine said in a blog post announcing the feature. "Even though differing conclusions may be presented, we think it's still helpful for people to understand the degree of consensus around a particular claim and have clear information on which sources agree."

To be eligible as a Google fact-check source, websites must meet an extensive list of criteria, including independent evaluation and Google's own assessment.