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I think we take the advent of Google Search for granted – it’s only been in the last 20 years or so that it became commonplace to be able to find out nearly anything you wanted to know with just a few clicks of a button. In recent years, it has become more and more important to teach digital literacy and critical thinking skills in order for current and future generations to be prepared for rapid misinformation.
In preparation for International Fact-Checking day on April 2nd – Google is hoping to make some changes to this by adding 5 new ways to verify your information online. In the Google company blog, some new features have been released to help make identifying sources, and their validity – much easier for users.
About this Result
When searching for something online, you’ll now see three dots beside your search result. A menu icon appears. Tap this icon to learn more about results, features, and sources of information. This additional context allows you to make more informed decisions about which websites you want to visit and which results are most helpful.
Source: Google
Perspective
This hopes to add a more diverse range of voices to a topic, rather than just being from one single source. Displayed below the top stories, this carousel features insights from a variety of journalists, experts, and other relevant voices on the topic you’re looking for. This feature brings you a variety of notable voices on news topics to complement and enhance your understanding of the authoritative coverage you’ve already found in your search.
About this Author
When a user taps on the three dots, readers can find out more information about the background and experience of the voice they found on Google search. This feature will be rolled out in English on global search results and in English on the US Perspectives carousel.
Source: Google
Information Gaps
Sometimes there isn’t much good information to show for a search, or the results change quickly. This can also be an important context for your users. To fill these information gaps, Google Search automatically presents content recommendations in situations of rapidly changing topics. These hints provide context for all results on the page, and you can always see the results of your query even when hints are present.
Funding for Digital Literacy and Fact Checking education
Finally, Google and YouTube announced last year that they provided a $13.2 million grant to the International Fact Checking Network to establish a new Global Fact Checking Fund. This fund will be launched in the near future. The fund supports over 130 fact-checking organizations in 65 countries covering over 80 languages. Building on previous efforts to combat misinformation, this is the largest single fact-checking grant from Google and YouTube.
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