How Google’s ‘Fact Checking’ Will Change the Way People Search

Google recently rolled out a new feature that highlights articles that have been fact-checked in its search results. When you launch a search query, Google will now display fact-checked articles as well as provide information on the third-party site that deemed the article fact or fiction. The hope is that this will create more conscientious Googling–though whether it will work is anyone’s guess.

The feature didn’t come about by chance. Google added it just months after facing harsh criticism for returning an openly neo-Nazi website as a top result for Holocaust searches. Of course, the sudden rise of profit-driven “fake news” sites during last year’s election also provides strong impetus, and Google may be trying to set itself apart as a source for reliable, objective information. More than a PR nod, however, the move could change the way people use search engines (and whether they click on your site).

The Not-Quite-Science of Checking Facts

So who decides what’s “fact” and what’s not? Not Google. Rather than trying to fact-check every search result–which would take tremendous resources–Google relies on websites like Politifact and Snopes. This allows them to pull an accuracy assessment for statements made by journalists, bloggers, and content sites. The interface is simple:

• Websites still appear in search results whether they have been fact checked or not.
• If a fact check is available, Google places a highly visible byline under the search result, with a verdict like “True,” “False,” or “Mixture,” along with the source.
• Users can click a link to provide feedback if they disagree with the assessment.

Google is not alone in the quest for a fake-free digital landscape. Earlier this year, Facebook added its own warning label to stories it felt contained questionable information and also provided links to third-party fact-checkers. It’s part of an ongoing effort on the social network’s part to ensure their users are never bothered by what they deem “abusive content.”

Unfortunately, fact-checking a claim is far from a science. Critics have pointed out serious downsides to the new features:

• It often takes third-party websites days before they are able to verify a story. By that time, a hot fake news item can spread like proverbial wildfire.
• Since Google uses multiple fact-checking sources, it could become commonplace for conflicting opinions to arise, causing confusion among Google’s users.
• As the value of fact-checking increases, we’re likely to see a slew of new “objective” websites offering their own assessments–and many won’t have a truly impartial agenda.

Google has suggested it will only show fact checks from sites it deems an “authoritative publisher,” but what exactly does that mean? Google is tight-lipped about its algorithmic guidelines and how exactly the feature will work moving forward. Presumably, there is a way for emerging fact-check sites to get included, but no information on how Google vets them.

Does Getting Fact-Checked Improve Your SEO?

The big question for any business leader is how and if the new fact-checking hits your site rank. For now, the answer is no–but that doesn’t mean it won’t affect your traffic.

To understand why, let’s look at how a fact check result gets triggered:

• Google still returns all the normal results, but if there is a fact-checked result available, it will most likely get returned.
• Google has made it clear that it currently gives no special rank boost to fact-checked articles. This could change in the future.
• Whether fact-checked snippets are displayed seems to depend on how a search was queried. The snippets aren’t tags on specific stories but rather on specific keywords, especially political topics and fake-news favorites like “kidney theft.”

This approach may seem like a light touch, but what it really means is that Google is using social pressure instead of search rank to promote accurate news. While users are not good at recognizing fake news on their own, there is increasing demand for a way to separate out reliable sources–and Google is giving them one.

The moral? If your competitor’s site gets a fact-checked tag and you don’t, people may click on them instead of you.

3 Takeaways for Business Leaders

While it’s unclear how many people will click differently, we need to expect that labeling sites as “true” or “false” will have some impact. Here are three ways you can use that to your business’s advantage:

1. Know if you’re being fact-checked. Look at the top searches that people bring to your site, and run those searches to see if you (or other sites) are getting fact-check tags in the search results.
2. Request fact checking where possible. Politifact, and some other sites, will take suggestions for claims to check. If your competitors are getting checked and you’re not, give the site your URL and ask them to investigate. Just be sure your claims are true before you do.
3. Use the feedback tool. If you are getting pinged as “False” and you don’t think it’s fair, use both the native feedback tool in the search results, and the “corrections” process on the site that did the fact checking. Make your case and provide any supporting evidence that’s needed.

But perhaps the biggest lesson here is not about Google or Facebook at all: it’s that we cannot rely on others to give us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We have to be active citizens and do our due diligence in seeking out accurate information, even (especially) on the internet.

Or, of course, you could build your own fact checking site and cash in.