Google Search now protects you against misinformation

• Snippets are the highlighted text at the top of a Search results page.
• Google’s AI compares prominent passages to determine if changes are needed.
• The IT giant is removing ads from Google Play Store.

Google is making changes to its search engine to get rid of misleading snippets and help people learn more by giving them more context. In other words, Google is doing more to get rid of false information on its powerful search service.

Snippets are the highlighted text at the top of a Search results page. While sources are included to back up the information, snippets give a source that goes against the scientific consensus. Featured snippets will have information from “many high-quality sources”

Google’s Multitask United Model AI will improve snippets (MUM). The AI will cross-reference featured excerpts to evaluate if they all agree or if modifications are needed. Google says this “improves the quality and usefulness” of featured snippets.

MUM will also battle misleading information by avoiding providing snippets for unanswered or “false premise” queries. Google suggests a user search for the day Snoopy from Peanuts assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. It’s impossible to inform the user accurately, thus the snippet may be deceptive or provide the wrong impression.

About This page and content cautions have also changed.

About This will tell you how popular a source is, if it’s owned by a parent firm, and if any information is missing. Google says context is key. Search will support eight more languages later this year. Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and Indonesian supported.

Expanding content recommendations to include dubious search results is underway. The release stresses that this doesn’t mean good information isn’t out there or it was harmful. It’s a reminder to be cautious of web content.

The changes’ release date is unknown, however it may be soon. No new content advisories or About This pages were seen on desktop or mobile Google. When will the adjustments be made? If we hear back, we’ll update.

Google fights falsehoods on its search engine. Google Search has reduced irrelevant results by more than 50%, according to a recent Q&A. The tech giant just said it’s revamping the Google Play Store to remove advertisements and imposters. Read our report.

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