Google is making a modification to its search results in order to improve online users’ media literacy. The company is expanding the capabilities of its “About this Result” feature, which was introduced earlier this year, to include information about the source itself, such as its Wikipedia description and what the site says about itself, as well as news, reviews, and other context that can help people better evaluate unfamiliar or new sources. It will also direct users to further resources on the same subject, as well as other sources of information that may be relevant to the user’s original question.
In February, the business added an “About this Result” section to its English search results in the United States, which included a brief description taken from Wikipedia, if available, when the site originally went online, and whether your connection to the website was safe, among other things.
More information will be added to this panel in the near future. It will now incorporate what a website says about itself in its own words, rather than just a Wikipedia description of the site. When accessible, this data is taken directly from the website. An “about section” that introduces a website to new users often includes information about its writers, publishers, or purpose.
This data will now be extracted in order to provide more details to the “About the Source” section. Below that, Google will provide the date the site originally went live, which can help visitors distinguish between websites that have been there for a long time and newbies that may have appeared suddenly as part of a misinformation or propaganda operation.
Google will also provide users with additional information about the source, as it is indexed across the web. People can look at what others are saying about the site in question, whether it’s through news sources, reviews, or reputable organizations like the Better Business Bureau. This could aid people in determining the website’s online reputation, as evidenced by various sources. This portion of “others,” according to the business, will be based on Google Open Web Results, which identifies pages that may provide context about the website.
In order to present impartial perspectives, Google also tries to highlight beneficial results that are not developed or controlled by the originating page. Google will also introduce an “About the Topic” feature that will direct online searchers to further information about their original inquiry, such as top news coverage or other search results on the same subject. This could assist people in learning more about a topic of interest.
