Google Just Added This Major Warning for Users
You may be warned about this the next time you use the search engine.
Google can provide a wealth of information, whether you're looking up food in your area or fact-checking something you've recently heard from a friend. And since many of us rely on Google for just about everything, we trust it to be a reliable platform. But the company itself is now acknowledging possible flaws in its ability to provide the most dependable service. Google just released a new warning to all users that discusses areas where the search engine may not be as reliable as we expect it to be. Read on to find out more about this new warning that Google is sending out to users.
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Google has added a new warning to searches with fast-changing results.
In a statement released June 25, Google announced it was adding a new warning to searches with fast-changing results. The company says it has trained its systems to "detect when a topic is rapidly evolving and a range of sources hasn't yet weighed in," so that this warning can be added.
"We'll now show a notice indicating that it may be best to check back later when more information from a wider range of sources might be available," Danny Sullivan, Google's public liaison for search, wrote in the statement.
Google says this will likely be targeted at breaking news or emerging topics.
People use Google a lot, especially when it comes to finding out more about breaking news or emerging topics. As Sullivan noted, "While Google Search will always be there with the most useful results we can provide, sometimes the reliable information you're searching for just isn't online yet." This tends to happen most often with breaking news or new areas of interest, "when the information that's published first may not be the most reliable," Sullivan noted.
The warning added on these results reads, "It looks like these results are changing quickly. If this topic is new, it can sometimes take time for results to be added by reliable sources."
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The feature has only been released in the U.S.
As of right now, the warning has only been added to searches being made in the U.S. But the company is planning to expand this new feature. "These new notices are rolling out in English in the U.S. to start, and we look forward to expanding these and other related features over the coming months," Sullivan noted.
According to Recode, Google says the warning is only currently showing up in a small percentage of searches—most of which tend to be about developing trending topics.
Google has recently released other features to help with searches.
According to Recode, this is just the latest feature in Google's recent efforts to help with searches and help give users better context about what they're being shown. In April 2020, Google released a feature that will tell people when there are not enough good matches for their particular search. And in February of this year, Google added an "about" feature to its searcher, where users can tap an icon and learn more about the website that is providing a particular search result.
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