Google adds ‘Fact Check’ tag for qualifying articles just in time for election

If the 2016 election cycle has done one thing for the economy, it’s been to add a lot of jobs for fact checkers. Presidential and vice presidential debates have created opportunities for truth seekers and lie catchers, and now Google is getting in on the action. With the election a mere weeks away, the internet giant is doing what it can to ensure that the public is well and truthfully informed.

Google first started labeling article types seven years ago, with tags including In-Depth, Opinion, Wikipedia, and most recently, Local Source. “Many readers enjoy having easy access to a diverse range of content types,” Google said in a blog post announcement, and to that end, the search company has decided to add the “Fact Check” tag in order “to help readers find fact checking in large news stories.”

You can find the tagged articles in the expanded story box on news.google.com, as well as in the Google News & Weather iOS and Android apps. Those in the U.S. and U.K. already have access to this new feature, and others are expected to find the same tag soon.

But just how is Google doing this fact checking? As per its recent blog post, “Google News determines whether an article might contain fact checks in part by looking for the schema.org ClaimReview markup.” Results are also pulled from sites that adhere to the commonly accepted standards for fact checks.

For publishers who create fact checks themselves and want to apply the “Fact Check” tag to their pieces, Google has a few instructions laid out as well. Simply check out the help center, where publishers can find all the necessary criteria.

“We’re excited to see the growth of the Fact Check community and to shine a light on its efforts to divine fact from fiction, wisdom from spin,” Google concluded. And in a few words, friends, so are we.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2e0tX0S
Lulu Chang