Google published a 30-page white paper with details about how the company fights disinformation in Search, News, and YouTube.
Here is a summary of key takeaways from the white paper.
What is Disinformation?
Everyone has different perspectives on what is considered disinformation, or “fake news.”
Google says it becomes objectively problematic to users when people make deliberate, malicious attempts to deceive others.
“We refer to these deliberate efforts to deceive and mislead using the speed, scale, and technologies of the open web as “disinformation.”
So that’s what the white paper is referring to with respect to term disinformation.
How Does Google Fight Disinformation?
Google admits it’s challenging to fight disinformation because it’s near-impossible to determine the intent behind a piece of content.
The company has designed a framework for tackling this challenge, which is comprised of the following three strategies.
1. Make content count
Information is organized by ranking algorithms, which are geared toward surfacing useful content and not fostering ideological viewpoints.
2. Counteract malicious actors
Algorithms alone cannot verify the accuracy of a piece of content. So Google has invested in systems that can reduce spammy behaviors
at scale. It also relies on human reviews.
3. Give users more context
Google provides more context to users through mechanisms such as:
- Knowledge panels
- Fact-check labels
- “Full Coverage” function in Google News
- “Breaking News” panels on YouTube
- “Why this ad” labels on Google Ads
- Feedback buttons in search, YouTube, and advertising products
Fighting Disinformation in Google Search & Google News
As SEOs, we know Google uses ranking algorithms and human evaluators to organize search results.
Google’s white paper explains this in detail for those who may not be familiar with how search works.
Google notes that Search and News share the same defenses against spam, but they do not employ the same ranking systems and content policies.
For example, Google Search does not remove content except in very limited circumstances. Whereas Google News is more restrictive.
Contrary to popular belief, Google says, there is very little personalization in search results based on users’ interests or search history.
Fighting Disinformation in Google Ads
Google looks for and takes action against attempts to circumvent its advertising policies.
Policies to tackle disinformation on Google’s advertising platforms are focused on the following types of behavior:
- Scraped or unoriginal content: Google does not allow ads for pages with insufficient original content, or pages that offer little to no value.
- Misrepresentation: Google does not allow ads that intend to deceive users by excluding relevant information or giving misleading information.
- Inappropriate content: Ads are not allowed for shocking, dangerous, derogatory, or violent content.
- Certain types of political content: Ads for foreign influence operations are removed and the advertisers’ accounts are terminated.
- Election integrity: Additional verification is required for anyone who wants to purchase an election ad on Google in the US.
Fighting Disinformation on YouTube
Google has strict policies to keep content on YouTube unless it is in direct violation of its community guidelines.
The company is more selective of content when it comes to YouTube’s recommendation system.
Google aims to recommend quality content on YouTube while less frequently recommending content that may come close to, but not quite, violating the community guidelines.
Content that could misinform users in harmful ways, or low-quality content that may result in a poor experience for users (like clickbait), is also recommended less frequently.
More Information
For more information about how Google fights disinformation across its properties, download the full PDF here.
