Tag Archives: News

Working with news partners in Asia Pacific

Wake up, check the news … according to this year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report, smartphones have become the main way people access news first thing in the morning. This is just one small example of how consumer behavior continues to change and things that seemed radical when I started working in media more than two decades ago — like instant access to always-on news sources — are now the minimum of what we expect as readers.

As we mark 20 years since Google News launched, I’ve been reflecting on the work our team does with news publishers of all sizes in Asia Pacific to support their focus on reaching audiences with the news content that matters to them. Here are some highlights of this recent work and a look at what's coming up.

1. Local solutions for local needs

We work closely with the news industry across the region to develop solutions that work locally. In response to feedback from partners, we’ve developed bespoke programs such as Build New Local in Japan. This program is led by local newspapers to help them use technology to connect and digitally transform so they can become more sustainable and reach new audiences. We provided skills training on design and product thinking, facilitated an idea hackathon and brought local newspapers together to work on common challenges and new business ideas.

In Malaysia, we worked with The Star to conduct design thinking workshops to help determine the best way to maintain online readership and drive revenue, while in Indonesia we’ve worked with publishers like MalukuTerkini.com through the Local News Foundry to address their challenges. And in Australia, we partnered with five regional publishers as part of Project Kookaburra to experiment with new business models and strategies to thrive in the digital age.

2. Broader and deeper publisher engagement

In recent years, we’ve expanded our relationships with news partners and strengthened the way we work together, from conducting business training to providing support for publishers through activities such as the Google News Initiative (GNI) Digital Growth Program. In India, we identified more than 300 small-to-medium news publishers producing original news for local and regional communities and provided technical and product training for teams through the GNI Advertising Lab to help them grow digital ad revenues. The program also helps publishers optimize their content management systems, websites and ads.

We announced the GNI Journalism Emergency Relief Fund in 2020 to deliver urgent aid to thousands of small, medium and local news publishers globally as the news industry dealt with the economic downturn prompted by COVID-19. Many news partners in Asia Pacific benefited from this program — for example in South Korea, Jeonnam Ilbo used these funds to highlight the resilience of businesses affected by COVID-19 and connect them with support.

3. Tackling misinformation and supporting fact checking

The impact of misinformation has been top of mind during the pandemic, as people seek out reliable data, health information and updates. In this context we have worked to support local fact-checking efforts, for example investing in CekFakta, the collaborative fact-checking and verification project with the Indonesian Cyber Media Association, the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists. The GNI was a founding supporter of CekFakta and earlier this year we announced additional investment to expand the fact-checking network.

Ahead of the Philippines’ presidential election, we supported #FactsFirstPH, a coalition of more than 100 news, civil society and business organizations to counter disinformation. They authored and amplified more than 800 fact checks and produced several studies on the nature of disinformation during the election period. We’ve also worked closely with DataLeads in India through the GNI India Training Network to train more than 35,000 journalists, media, educators, fact checkers and journalism students in fact-checking and verification skills.

A collaboration between the GNI and DataLEADS, the India Training Network has trained more than 35,000 Indian journalists, media educators, fact checkers and journalism students in fact-checking and verification skills.

4. Supporting innovation through products and programs

We work closely with news publishers across the Asia Pacific region to provide financial, technical and training support. More than 340 news publications in Asia Pacific have joined Google News Showcase since it launched in 2020, and we're continuing discussions with even more publishers across the region. This builds upon our proud history of partnering with news businesses around the world to strengthen quality journalism, and is the basis of our continuing efforts to create a thriving news ecosystem in Asia Pacific.

Beyond products, the Google News Initiative works to encourage diversity and innovation in news. This includes partnering on innovation through programs such as the GNI Innovation Challenge, which started in APAC back in 2018. Since the launch, GNI Innovation Challenges have supported more than 200 news organizations around the world, including outlets like Busan Ilbo in Korea and Khabar Lahariya in India.

5. Supporting a diverse news community

Through all our work with the news industry, we aim to help build diversity, fairness and inclusion standards into every program that we deliver and every partnership that we create. In Australia, we partnered with Media Diversity Australia to examine diversity in the local broadcast news industry and in Japan, we launched a news-specific track of the Women Will Leadership Program to help women working in news to advance their careers and support companies seeking to drive change in the work environment. In Korea and Australia, we will welcome new cohorts to leadership programs for journalists returning to work after parental leave.

Looking forward

To further support a diverse news ecosystem, we’re opening applications for the new Global News Equity Fund, which supports news organizations that serve or are owned by members of underrepresented communities. The GNI Global News Equity Fund will provide cash awards to independent journalists and small and medium-sized news organizations producing original news for minority and underrepresented audiences. Applications are open now until July 21 and available in Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Bahasa Indonesia and Thai.

Through these and other programs we work with news partners across the region to support their goals and strengthen quality journalism. I look forward to continuing these partnerships and will have more to share on new initiatives in the coming months.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Google News is now available in Spain

When the initial reports of the war in Ukraine emerged, I turned to news reports to better understand the rapidly evolving situation: from international media outlets reporting on the impact of the war in Europe, to my local community newspapers reporting on the resulting increase of fuel and food prices in Spain. But with so much news and information out there, it can be overwhelming to know where to start, or what to believe.

Today, on the global 20th anniversary of Google News, and after an almost eight-year hiatus, Google News is returning to Spain. This is thanks to an updated copyright law allowing Spanish media outlets – big and small – to make their own decisions about how their content can be discovered and how they want to monetise that content.

This illustration shows different colored graphics and headlines depicting the sections of Google News on desktop in Spain, including topic, Your Briefing, local news and more.

An illustration of some of the features for Google News on desktop in Spain

Through a dedicated website and app, soon available on Android and iOS, Google News helps readers find news from authoritative sources, from the world's biggest news websites to small, local and specialty publications. And by identifying and organizing links to stories from a wide range of news sources – a key tool in the fight against misinformation – we’re helping readers more easily discover the bigger picture of what’s going on around them. That includes finding more local stories from their communities, understanding the breaking news topics of the day nationally and globally, and seeing which stories have been fact checked by independent organizations.

Making it easier for readers to find the news they’re looking for doesn’t just benefit readers, it also helps publishers. Google News directs readers to publishers’ websites when they click on links – helping drive traffic to their content, where they can show ads and incentivize readers to subscribe. Research showed news consumption in Spain fell when we had to shut down Google News in 2014, and this led to a 10% reduction in traffic to Spanish publishers’ websites — with the greatest impact on smaller publishers.

On top of bringing Google News back to Spain, we’ll be working with publishers to reach agreements and bring Google News Showcase to the country as soon as possible. Google News Showcase is a licensing program and new product experience that pays publishers to curate content for story panels on Google News and Discover. Alongside this, we’ll continue to invest in products, programs and funding via the Google News Initiative.

Journalists play an important role in helping us understand important events as they unfold. They helped us sift through the huge amounts of information around COVID-19 and how it impacted our community. They follow national issues, help bring context to stories that will impact our lives, and they keep us informed about what’s happening in other countries and continents. We hope the return of Google News to Spain helps more people find the news they’re looking for, from diverse, authoritative publishers of all sizes from Spain and beyond, and provides even more support to the journalists and publishers who work tirelessly to deliver the news.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Read all about it: A new look for Google News

The rise of social media, mobile devices, notifications, apps and news sites around the world means people have more ways to get news than ever before. Google News gives people a simple way to cut through the noise and easily find out what’s important in their local community and around the world. From local and regional news outlets to national and global perspectives, Google News brings together diverse journalism to help us better understand our world.

Our vision for Google News is focused on strengthening access to local news, providing access to a diverse range of sources, and addressing misinformation while protecting the open web.

Today we're announcing a number of ways we're working to help people around the world find a broad array of authoritative news, through global support to news organizations and product innovation.

The new Google News

Google News is available in over 125 countries and 40 languages. Each month, people click through from Google Search and Google News results to publishers’ websites more than 24 billion times. Google’s algorithms use machine learning to analyze hundreds of different factors to identify and organize the stories being covered around the world.

To help people dive deeper into important stories and more easily find local news from around the world, today we’re launching a redesigned, more customizable Google News experience for desktop.

Our new look for Google News on desktop was inspired by feedback we received from readers. We’ve made it easier for you to catch up on the most important news by bringing Top stories, Local news and personalized picks for you to the top of the page.

This image shows an example of how the Google News desktop page will look like in its new redesign. We've brought local news up to the top of the page and made it easier for you to customize the topics you want to follow

The newly redesigned Google News on desktop, with local news now easier to find.

As an example, we’ve moved our local news section to the top of the page, so it’s easier to find. You can now use the filter button to add multiple locations to your local news section, so you’ll never miss important news about the cities and towns you care about. This change is just the latest way we’re bringing local news to users around the world. Last year, we expanded a feature on Google Search so readers around the world can now see a carousel of local news stories when Google finds local news coverage relevant to their query. This helps them easily find stories from local news publishers.

To make sure this Google News desktop homepage feels truly yours, you now have the ability to customize the topics that appear. This new feature makes it simple to scroll and click through to the stories that most interest you. You can add, remove or reorder topics – just click the blue customize button in the top right of the Your Topics section to get started.

This image shows Your Topics on the Google News desktop redesign

Your Topics now makes it easy to customize the subjects you’d like to follow.

This image shows a zoomed in example of the customization box you may get if you wan to customize the Your Topics section of Google News. You can select what you want to follow (Business, for example) and reorder them on the page.

An example of the customization options for Topics in the new Google News desktop.

To help you make more informed judgments about the information you come across online, we’ve expanded our Fact Check section in Google News on desktop to provide more context. In addition to headlines, you’ll now see the original claim made along with the fact-checked assessment from independent organizations.

This is one of the many ways Google is helping support media literacy. You can also find more information about sources right on Google Search, called About This Result. Next to related Search results, you’ll see three dots that you can tap to learn more about the result and where the information is coming from. With this extra context, you can follow expert recommendations to check the source and see what others say about a topic, helping you make more informed decisions about the sites you may want to visit and what results will be most useful for you.

As part of our announcements today to bring a redesigned Google News to people globally, we’re also announcing that after an eight-year hiatus, Google News is returning to Spain. This is a result of a new copyright law and we hope that the return of Google News to Spain helps more people find more news, from more places, and helps publishers find new readers

How we’re helping journalists

Having access to news goes beyond individuals’ experiences day to day – it's also about finding ways to help the news industry stay successful. Through the Google News Initiative, we partner with news publishers around the world to build a long-lasting, diverse and innovative news industry. We do this by offering training, programs, funding and products to journalists and newsrooms to help strengthen their work in the digital age.

One of the GNI’s goals is to elevate the work of diverse publications around the world. As part of that effort, we’re officially opening the applications for our Global News Equity Fund, our multi-million dollar commitment to help bring more diversity and equity to the news industry. Independent journalists and small and medium-sized news organizations producing original news for minority and underrepresented audiences are eligible to apply by July 21 for funding to support and expand their news operations.

We’re also announcing the first round of recipients of The Data-Driven Reporting Project, a partnership between the GNI and the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. The first round of funding awards around $1 million to help journalists serving local and underrepresented communities, supporting their work to publish document-based or data driven investigative stories. The 22 winners are from the U.S. and Canada. Medill will provide specialized training, expertise and resources to award recipients. Google played no role in the selection of jurors or individual projects. Applications for a second round will open later this year.

As another part of our continued commitment to supporting local news in the U.S., we’ll invest in a local news advertising campaign placed with local outlets. We’ll also continue to partner with local news associations to offer programs that will support long-term digital transformation and sustainability.

20 years of Google News

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Google News. When it launched, Google News broke new ground in news aggregation by gathering links in real time, grouping articles by story and ranking stories from publishers worldwide.

How Google News on desktop looked in 2002 versus how it looks now in 2022.

The world has changed a lot in the past 20 years – and the way people learn and seek information, and how news organizations cover the news, have changed with it. At Google, we’re committed to work with publishers, governments and civil society to build a future of news that meets the new ways people look for and consume news.

Here’s to the next 20 years.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Google News Showcase launches in Romania

Journalists and news publishers play a key role in helping us understand important topics as they unfold. Access to trustworthy information is important to all of us, and at Google we’re dedicated to supporting the reporters and publishers who work tirelessly to deliver us news.

Through Google News, Top Stories on Search and more, we help people find links to stories, and help publishers find readers. Beyond this, we invest in products, funding and programs to support the news industry with the Google News Initiative. That includes supporting 16 Romanian publishers through the Digital News Innovation Fund with 1.8M EUR in funding and providing emergency financial support to more than 50 publishers through the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2015, we’ve also provided training to close to 900 journalists in Romania to help them research, verify and visualize their stories.

Today we're announcing our latest initiative to support journalism in Romania by rolling out Google News Showcase, our product and licensing program for news publishers.

Google has signed partnerships with 16 national Romanian publications, including broadcasters and newswires, which provide important news coverage to people all over the country. The titles include Adevarul.ro, Agerpres, Descopera.ro, Digi24, Edupedu.ro, G4Media.ro, Gandul, HotNews.ro, iDevice, Mobilissimo.ro, News.ro, Profit.ro, Newsweek, StartupCafe.ro, StirileProTV.ro and Wall-Street.ro. We’ll continue to work with other news partners in the country to add more content in the future.

This GIF shows examples of News Showcase panels from publishers in Romania as they scroll through Google News. Publishers appearing include Digi24, StirileProTV.ro, Agerpres, HotNews.ro, Wall-Street.ro, G4Media.ro, Mobilissimo.ro, Gandul, Descopera.ro

An example of how News Showcase can look for some of our partners in Romania.

With this new experience, we give publishers a variety of News Showcase panel templates to use to give additional context to stories and add related articles, timelines and more. The panels give news publishers more direct control of their presentation and branding, helping them be more visible to their dedicated readers and to those who are just discovering them.

News Showcase panels can appear on Google News and Discover, and direct readers to the full articles on publishers’ websites, helping them deepen their relationships with readers. In addition to the revenue that comes directly from these more engaged readers, participating publishers will receive monthly licensing payments from Google.

“We are glad to sign this partnership for Google News Showcase as a new way to deliver trustworthy, fact-checked and original content to the public,” says Andrei Bereanda, Head of Digital, ProTV, the Romanian television station whose news website stirileprotv.ro offers national and global news. “ProTV Digital salutes and encourages any type of investment in quality mass media and we remain dedicated to helping readers and viewers get verified information easily and clearly, and on as many platforms as possible. Investing in trustworthy information for the general public is one of the best long-term investments in this day and age.”

"We are delighted to share our expertise and editorial voice through a modern visual experience such as Google News Showcase,” says Alina Gheorghiescu, Digital Marketing Manager, Wall-Street, a national business news company. “Wall-Street.ro is glad to be part of this product launch in Romania and proud to be selected as one of the first Romanian news outlets to deliver our quality content daily. We expect Google News Showcase to drive high-value traffic directly to our website, increase engagement with our users and help us develop a closer connection with our readers."

Since we launched News Showcase in October 2020, we’ve signed deals with more than 1,500 news publications around the world and have launched in 16 countries: India, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, Austria, the U.K., Australia, Czechia, Italy, Colombia, Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, Poland and now Romania, bringing more in-depth, essential news coverage to Google News and Discover users.

This image shows examples of how some publishers in Romania, including Adevarul.ro, G4Media.ro, HotNews.ro,and StirileProTV.ro will appear using News Showcase panels

An example of how News Showcase panels will look with some of our partners in Romania.

”We are very happy to use News Showcase for two editorial projects: Hotnews.ro, our flagship news website, and StartupCafe.ro, the entrepreneurial education website,” says Clarice Dinu, editor-in-chief of Hotnews, a nationwide online media publisher. “Although the websites are different in terms of traffic and audience, we found the idea of using a dedicated news distribution channel — Google News — on mobile devices to deliver certain stories curated by our daily incharge editors very useful.”

Google News Showcase is one of the many ways we invest in journalism, continuing years of support through our products and programs to help people access diverse information and enable publishers to thrive in a digital world.

Source: The Official Google Blog

News Showcase is launching in Slovakia

Journalists have long been committed to providing reliable information to people when they need it, with the last few weeks proving this more than ever. With products like Search and News, Google is committed to helping people find reliable and relevant information.

Today we're going further in our support for journalism in Slovakia by rolling out Google News Showcase, our product and licensing program for news publishers.

Google has signed partnerships with six Slovak publications including national news outlets, a television broadcaster and a press agency, which provide essential news coverage to people all over the country. The titles included in the News Showcase launch in Slovakia are Nový čas, Denník N, SME, TA3, Topky and Webnoviny. We’ll continue to work with other news partners in the country to add additional resources in the future. News Showcase is part of our global investment in news and reinforces our commitment to journalism in Slovakia and around the world.

This GIF shows examples of News Showcase panels from publishers in Slovakia as they scroll through Google News. Publishers appearing include Nový čas, Denník N, SME, TA3, Topky and Webnoviny.

An example of how News Showcase can look for some of our partners in Slovakia

News Showcase panels can appear on Google products, currently on News and Discover, and direct readers to the full articles on publishers’ websites, helping them deepen their relationships with readers. Panels will also include extended access to paywalled content from select participating publishers to give readers even more from their favorite sources, with the intention of leading to more subscribers for the news organization. In addition to the revenue that comes directly from these more-engaged readers, participating publishers will receive monthly licensing payments from Google.

“At SME, we realize that only high-quality and independent journalism will gain long-term support from subscribers,” says Peter Macinga, Chief Digital Officer of Petit Press, the publisher of SME and of other national and regional news titles in Slovakia. “We appreciate our partnership with Google on News Showcase, which will make our premium content available to an even larger audience.”

“Dennik N only exists thanks to the support of our subscribers, and we are therefore always looking for ways to provide them with faster and more convenient access to information,” says Lukas Fila, CEO of N Press, the first Slovak national publisher that made a move to derive the majority of their revenue from subscriptions. “Google News Showcase is a new way for our interviews, investigative journalism and analyses to reach readers. With the free access to some of our normally paywalled content, brand new audiences will be able to try out access to our paid articles.”

Since we launched News Showcase in October 2020, we’ve signed deals with more than 1,400 news publications around the world and have launched in 15 countries including India, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, Austria, the U.K., Australia, Czechia, Italy, Colombia, Argentina, Canada, Ireland and now Slovakia, bringing more in-depth, essential news coverage to Google News and Discover users.

This image shows examples of how some publishers in Slovakia will appear using News Showcase panels

An example of how News Showcase panels will look with some of our partners in Slovakia

“As one of the longest established media companies in Slovakia, we are glad to be among the first to participate in this Google project,” says Samuel Schlarmann, Digital Media director of news agency SITA, a national news outlet. “We are glad that we can develop our journalistic, analytical and digital skills in this direction. We see our partnership in Google News Showcase as an opportunity to bring our work closer to new readers, and we firmly believe that we will enrich the Google platform with quality content.”

Google News Showcase is our latest effort to support publishers and the news industry in Slovakia. We supported 12 local Slovak newsrooms through the Google News Initiative’s Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to help them continue their vital work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and provided 1.5 million euros to support six Digital News Innovation Fund experimental news projects, from titles such as SME, Denník N, Postoj and Vot. Around the world, the Google News Initiative has supported more than 7,000 news partners in over 120 countries and territories. Since 2015, the Google News Lab has trained more than 300 Slovak journalists, newsroom staff and journalism students on a range of digital tools to help them research, verify and visualize their stories.

Google also sends eight billion visits each month to European news websites from products like Search and News, which publishers can monetize with online advertising and subscriptions on their websites and apps. Our ad technologies enable news organizations to sell their ad space to millions of advertisers globally.

We’re dedicated to continuing our contribution to and collaboration with the news ecosystem, supporting the open web and continuing to provide access to information in Slovakia and elsewhere.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Verifica los hechos con estas funciones de Google

En estos días, se siente como si la información viniera hacia nosotros desde todas las direcciones. Es probable que te haya pasado antes: escuchaste brevemente una transmisión de noticias, te encontraste con un meme viral o una foto en las redes sociales, has recibido una alerta en el teléfono o un miembro de tu familia te ha enviado un mensaje en un chat grupal, y es posible que sientas que no tienes toda la información sobre la historia.

La amplia disponibilidad de información, desde todo tipo de fuentes, es ideal para aprender nuevos hechos y perspectivas de todo el mundo. Pero también puede dificultar la tarea de determinar qué información es creíble y cuál no.

A principios de esta semana, Sundar anunció que Google está invirtiendo 10 millones de dólares para ayudar a combatir la desinformación sobre las realidades y los hechos de la guerra en Ucrania. Esto incluye nuevas asociaciones con grupos de estudio y organizaciones de la sociedad civil para llevar a cabo investigaciones específicas de la región sobre desinformación y apoyos en efectivo para dar soporte a organizaciones sin fines de lucro y redes de verificación de hechos.

El Día internacional de la verificación de hechos (2 de abril) es un buen recordatorio sobre el valor esencial de la verificación en este complicado panorama de información. Para hacer esto de manera eficiente, es útil tener herramientas fáciles de usar para verificar las fuentes, obtener un contexto valioso y evaluar la información. Estas son cuatro formas en las que puedes usar Google para ayudarte:

Consejos para evaluar la información, directamente en la Búsqueda

A veces, cuando las noticias son recientes o un nuevo tema es tendencia, la información que estás buscando aún no está ampliamente disponible. En estos momentos, la Búsqueda muestra automáticamente un aviso en los resultados de búsqueda que indica que puede tomar tiempo para que una serie de fuentes publiquen información sobre un tema. Estos avisos están disponibles actualmente en más de 20 idiomas alrededor del mundo.

A partir de hoy, en las búsquedas en inglés en los Estados Unidos, estos avisos también incluirán consejos para ayudarte a evaluar la información en línea, recordándote que puedes verificar si una fuente es confiable o no sobre un tema o volver más tarde cuando haya más información disponible.

También puedes consultar nuestra nueva página de recursos con indicadores para ayudarte a navegar por la información que encuentras en línea, con base en la investigación de expertos en alfabetización informativa. Aquí, puedes encontrar recordatorios útiles para cuando encuentres nueva información, como buscar sobre el autor de un contenido para tener una idea de su credibilidad, o verificar la fecha de publicación para asegurarte de que sigue siendo relevante.

Este GIF muestra un ejemplo de cómo aparecerán los nuevos tips de alfabetización informativa para las historias que evolucionan rápidamente. Para la búsqueda “OVNI filmado por un piloto de avión”, el GIF muestra una notificación para indicar que el resultado está cambiando rápidamente, así como un consejo de alfabetización informativa sugiriendo que verifiques la fuente y que regresas más tarde para ver si hay más información disponible.

Un ejemplo de los nuevos consejos y notificaciones sobre alfabetización informativa para las historias que evolucionan rápidamente

Una nueva etiqueta para las fuentes ampliamente citadas

Una organización de noticias local revela una historia de investigación que indaga sobre los problemas en el distrito escolar local. La historia es tan grande que es citada por muchos otros medios de comunicación. Pero, ¿y si no viste esa historia original, que tenía un contexto único para los residentes locales? Estamos presentando una forma de ayudarte a identificar historias que han sido citadas con frecuencia por otras organizaciones de noticias, dándote una manera sencilla de encontrar la información más útil o relevante para una noticia.

Esta etiqueta aparecerá para las historias principales. Podrás encontrarla en cualquier formato de contenido, desde un artículo de investigación, una entrevista, declaración, un comunicado de prensa o una noticia local, siempre y cuando otros editores indiquen su relevancia al enlazarla en su pieza de contenido. Estamos particularmente entusiasmados con destacar la información original, haciendo que sea aún más fácil para las personas descubrir e interactuar con los editores y los periodistas cuyo trabajo aporte un valor único a la historia.

La etiqueta para el contenido ampliamente citado se lanzará pronto en dispositivos móviles en inglés para los Estados Unidos y estará disponible a nivel mundial en las próximas semanas.

Este GIF muestra un ejemplo de cómo puede aparecer la etiqueta de “ampliamente citado” en las historias principales. Muestra una historia sobre la Major League Baseball del Tampa Bay Times con la etiqueta, con historias de ESPN y otras organizaciones de noticias en la parte inferior.

Un ejemplo de cómo pudiera aparecer la función de “ampliamente citado” en las historias principales.

Verificación de datos por parte de organizaciones independientes de verificación de hechos

Las funciones de verificación de hechos en Google son otra forma de encontrar fácilmente información que ha sido verificada por organizaciones independientes de verificación de hechos. Cuando buscas un tema que puede ser disputado, es posible que veas artículos de verificación de hechos en tus resultados. Estos resultados muestran fragmentos para ayudarte a obtener contexto acerca de una afirmación. Además, cuando navegas por Google Noticias en el escritorio, puedes ver las afirmaciones recientemente verificadas por los editores independientes en tu región, cuando se relacionan con las principales historias del día.

¿Busca verificar un tema o historia específica de la que escuchaste hablar? El Fact Check Explorer de Google te permite buscar diferentes temas sobre los que tienes preguntas. Esta herramienta recopila más de 150.000 verificaciones de hechos de editores de renombre alrededor del mundo.

Un ejemplo de una búsqueda que puedes hacer en Fact Check Explorer

Obtén más información sobre cualquier página en línea

A todos nos ha pasado esto antes: estás buscando en línea y te encuentras con una historia de un sitio web del que no habías oído antes. En estas situaciones, es útil verificar la fuente; por ejemplo, si estás buscando información sobre una nueva opción de inversión popular, debes asegurarte de seguir los consejos de una fuente con experiencia en finanzas. Es fácil verificar la fuente directamente en la Búsqueda, con “Acerca de este resultado.”

Este GIF muestra un ejemplo de cómo puedes usar “Acerca de este resultado” para saber más sobre una fuente o tema. Muestra a una persona haciendo clic en el panel “Acerca de este resultado” en el resultados de una búsqueda sobre inversión en NFTs, y muestra información acerca de la fuente del resultados e información de otras fuentes sobre el tema.

Un ejemplo de cómo puedes usar “Acerca de este resultado” para saber más sobre la fuente y el tema.

Cuando toques los tres puntos de cualquier resultado de búsqueda, haz clic en el enlace "Más información sobre esta página" para:

Conocer más sobre la fuente para tener una idea de cómo se describen a sí mismos, en sus propias palabras
Aprender lo que otros en la web han dicho sobre un sitio, para obtener una segunda mirada
Conocer el contexto adicional sobre el tema, como la cobertura de noticias más importante, para ver lo que una variedad de fuentes tienen que decir.

Estas funciones estarán disponibles muy pronto para todas las búsquedas en inglés en todo el mundo.

Apoyando a los verificadores de hechos en el mundo

También estamos apoyando una serie de nuevos esfuerzos para reforzar la verificación de hechos a nivel mundial a través de Google News Initiative. Nos estamos asociando con la Red Internacional de Verificación de Hechos (IFCN) en el Instituto Poynter sin fines de lucro para proporcionar capacitación y recursos a verificadores de hechos y expertos de la industria alrededor del mundo. El IFCN establecerá un programa para fomentar la colaboración en temas emergentes, apoyar a los verificadores de hechos contra el acoso y organizar una serie de talleres sobre herramientas y técnicas digitales. También se brindará apoyo para ayudar a los participantes de comunidades subrepresentadas a asistir al evento "Global Fact 9" que se celebrará en Oslo a finales de este año.

Además, nos asociamos con una serie de otras organizaciones de verificación de hechos:

Chequeado y Maldita en los Estados Unidos para ayudar a lanzar FactChequeado, una iniciativa para identificar nuevas formas de combatir la desinformación en las comunidades latinas en este país.
LatamChequea en América Latina para capacitar a 500 nuevos verificadores de hechos en Argentina, Colombia, México y Perú.
Comprova, en Brasil, la mayor coalición de verificación de hechos en el país que se centra en las elecciones presidenciales
Agence-France Presse para crear “Objectif désinfox”, una coalición de más de 20 redacciones comprometidas con la verificación de hechos colaborativa de la campaña presidencial francesa de abril de 2022.
Australian Associated Press (AAP) traducirá verificaciones de hechos a 40 publicaciones cultural y lingüísticamente diversas.
#FactsFirstPH, una coalición de más de 100 grupos diferentes en Filipinas para desmentir la desinformación antes de las elecciones de mayo en el país.

Estamos comprometidos a ayudar a las personas a detectar información errónea en línea y apoyar el ecosistema de verificación de hechos a largo plazo y esperamos que los anuncios y consejos de hoy permitan a las personas sentirse más seguras al explorar la información en línea.

Para obtener más consejos y mejores prácticas, consulta los recursos reunidos por la Red Internacional de Verificación de Hechos en factcheckingday.com. Y si eres periodista, echa un vistazo al Centro de Formación de GNI.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Check the facts with these Google features

These days, it can feel like information is coming at us from every direction. It’s probably happened to you before: You caught a few minutes of a news broadcast, came across a viral meme or photo on social media, got a push alert or a family member messaged you in a group chat — and you may not feel like you got the whole story.

The widespread availability of information – from all different kinds of sources – is great for learning new facts and perspectives from around the world. But it can also make it difficult to sort out what information is credible and what isn’t.

Earlier this week, Sundar announced Google is investing $10 million to help fight misinformation about the realities and facts of the war in Ukraine. This includes new partnerships with think tanks and civil society organizations to conduct region-specific research into misinformation and disinformation and cash grants to support fact-checking networks and nonprofits.

International Fact-Checking Day on April 2 is a good reminder of the essential value of fact checking in this complicated information landscape. To do this efficiently, it’s helpful to have easy-to-use tools to check sources, get valuable context, and evaluate information. Here are four ways you can use Google to help:

Tips for evaluating information, right on Search

Sometimes when news is breaking or a new topic is trending, the information you're searching for isn't broadly available yet. In these moments, Search automatically shows a notice on your search results indicating that it can take time for a range of sources to publish information on a topic. These notices are currently available in more than 20 languages around the world.

Starting today, on searches in English in the U.S., these notices will also include tips to help you evaluate information online – reminding you that you can check whether a source is trusted on a topic, or come back later when there’s more information available. You can also check out our new resource page with pointers to help you navigate the information you’re finding online, based on research from information literacy experts. Here, you can find helpful reminders for when you come across new information, like searching about the author of a piece of content to get a sense of their credibility, or checking the publication date to make sure it’s still relevant.

This GIF shows an example of how the new information literacy tips will appear on notices for rapidly evolving topics. For the query “UFO filmed by airline pilot,” the GIF shows a notice that results are changing quickly and information literacy tips suggesting that you can check the source or come back later when more information is available.

An example of new information literacy tips on notices for rapidly evolving situations.

A new label for highly cited sources

Let’s say a local news organization breaks an investigative story looking into problems at your local school district. The story is so big that it gets picked up by numerous other media outlets. But what if you didn’t see that original story, which had unique context for local residents? We’re introducing a way to help you identify stories that have been frequently cited by other news organizations, giving you a simple way to find the most helpful or relevant information for a news story.

This label will appear on Top Stories. You will be able to find it on anything from an investigative article, to an interview, an announcement, a press release or a local news story, as long as other publishers indicate its relevance by linking to it. We’re particularly interested in the potential to elevate original reporting, making it even easier for people to discover and engage with the publishers and journalists whose work brings unique value to a story.

The highly cited label is launching soon on mobile in English for the U.S. and will roll out globally in the coming weeks.

This GIF shows an example of how the new “highly cited” label can appear in Top Stories. It shows a story about Major League Baseball from the Tampa Bay Times with the label, with stories from ESPN and other news organizations below.

An example of how the “highly cited” feature could appear in Top Stories

Fact checks from independent fact-checking organizations

Fact check features on Google are another way to easily find information that has been verified by independent fact-checking organizations. When you search for a topic that may be disputed, you might see fact-check articles in your results. These results display snippets to help you get context about a claim that was made. Additionally, when you browse Google News on desktop, you can see recently fact-checked claims from independent publishers in your region, when related to the top stories of the day.

Looking to fact check a specific topic or story you heard about? Google’s Fact Check Explorer lets you search different topics you have questions about. This tool collects more than 150,000 fact checks from reputable publishers from around the world.

An example of a search you can do in Fact Check Explorer.

Learn more about any page online

We’ve all had this happen before: You’re looking online and come across a story from a website you haven’t heard of before. In these situations, it’s helpful to check the source – for example, if you’re looking for information about a popular new investment option, you want to make sure you follow advice from a source with expertise on finance. It’s easy to check the source right on Search, with About This Result.

An example of how you can use About This Result to learn more about a source and topic.

When you tap the three dots on any search result, click the “more about this page” link to:

Learn about the source to get a sense of how they describe themselves, in their own words
Learn what others on the web have said about a site, to get a second look
Learn additional context about the topic, like top news coverage, to see what a range of sources have to say.

These features will be available soon for all English-language searches worldwide.

Supporting fact checkers globally

We are also supporting a number of new efforts to bolster fact checking globally through the Google News Initiative. We are partnering with the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) at the nonprofit Poynter Institute to provide training and resources to fact-checkers and industry experts around the world. The IFCN will establish a program to foster collaboration on emerging topics, support fact-checkers against harassment and host a series of workshops on digital tools and techniques. Support will also be given to help participants from underrepresented communities attend the Global Fact 9 event being held in Oslo later this year.

Additionally, we are partnering with a number of other fact-check organizations:

Chequeado and Maldita in the United States to help launch FactChequeado, an initiative to identify new ways to fight misinformation in Latino communities.
LatamChequea in Latin America to train 500 new fact-checkers in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
Comprova, in Brazil, the largest fact-checking coalition in the country that are focused on the presidential elections
Agence-France Presse to create “Objectif désinfox,” a coalition of more than 20 newsrooms engaged in collaborative fact-checking the April 2022 French Presidential campaign.
Australian Associated Press (AAP) to translate fact checks to 40 culturally and linguistically diverse publications.
#FactsFirstPH, a coalition of more than 100 different groups in the Philippines to debunk disinformation ahead of the country’s May election.

We’re committed to helping people spot misinformation online and to supporting the fact-checking ecosystem for the long term and hope today’s announcements and tips help people feel more confident about navigating information online.

For more tips and best practices, check out the resources put together by the International Fact-Checking Network at factcheckingday.com. And if you’re a journalist, check out the GNI Training Center.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Empathy and trust: How 3 women influence Google products

This Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating Googlers who contribute to products and features that people rely on each day. Last week we heard from women working on our crisis hotlines and Street View. Today, we hear from three more Googlers about how they build products — like Maps, Google Assistant and Google News — with safety, empathy and collaboration in mind.

Making the internet safer for women

What do you love most about building at Google?

Few companies in the world have the level of impact that Google does. When I tell people I work on Google Maps, they tell me how much they love Maps and how it’s a part of their everyday life. That’s the best part of doing this job!

What is the best career advice another woman has given you?

I had a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty about returning to work after my daughter was born. During that period, my mother encouraged me to think beyond the initial anxiety and adapt to my new way of life as a working mother. Her simple advice was to take a long-term view of my life and happiness and make decisions based on that.

Why is it important to moderate things like reviews on Google Maps?

Women-owned businesses often face threats of trolling, shaming and digital sabotage through fake reviews and other malicious practices. To make Google Maps universally safe and trusted — especially for women — we must constantly invest in fighting abuse and misinformation.

Bringing empathy to technology

What’s early career advice you’ve gotten from another woman?

When women don’t meet every qualification on a job description, they often assume they’re not qualified for the job. A friend gave me the advice to believe in my capabilities and tell the story of what made me qualified in the moment, instead of assuming that I needed to do more or be more. It’s a mindset shift that’s allowed me to stretch and grow in unexpected ways.

When you create experiences with this in mind, it keeps you focused on being of service to people as opposed to being of service to goals or ideas.

Your work focuses on making the Assistant more empathetic. Why is empathy an important part of the user experience?

Empathy is an important part of the human experience. We need each other, and we all want to feel understood and cared for. When you create experiences with this in mind, it keeps you focused on being of service to people as opposed to being of service to goals or ideas.

Other than Google Assistant, what’s your favorite Google product or feature?

I’d be lost without Maps.

Collaborating across perspectives

How have your experiences impacted the way you build products?

Before joining Google, I’ve felt at times that my voice wasn’t heard; this led me to approach my current role with empathy and curiosity. I have a strong desire to deeply understand and incorporate a wide array of perspectives — from considering the needs of people using Google News to collaborating with others internally to create different ways to deliver essential news through the app. I believe this helps us build more inclusive experiences for people with a wide range of circumstances and needs.

Making sure everyone has equal access to this essential information empowers everyone, including women, and fuels a well-functioning society.

Why is it important for women to access quality news and information?

Everyone needs to be able to access reliable and authoritative news to make informed decisions, engage in their local community, have conversations with friends and family, and stay safe. Making sure everyone has equal access to this essential information empowers everyone, including women, and fuels a well-functioning society.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Empathy and trust: How 3 women influence Google products

Making the internet safer for women

What do you love most about building at Google?

What is the best career advice another woman has given you?

Why is it important to moderate things like reviews on Google Maps?

Bringing empathy to technology

What’s early career advice you’ve gotten from another woman?

When you create experiences with this in mind, it keeps you focused on being of service to people as opposed to being of service to goals or ideas.

Your work focuses on making the Assistant more empathetic. Why is empathy an important part of the user experience?

Other than Google Assistant, what’s your favorite Google product or feature?

I’d be lost without Maps.

Collaborating across perspectives

How have your experiences impacted the way you build products?

Making sure everyone has equal access to this essential information empowers everyone, including women, and fuels a well-functioning society.

Why is it important for women to access quality news and information?

Source: The Official Google Blog

Seeking news innovators in the Middle East, Turkey & Africa

Want to listen to the article instead? Press play.

From Kenya to Lebanon, innovation lies at the heart of the many news organizations across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa where we are today inviting applications for the Innovation Challenges program.

As part of our ongoing commitment to support the news industry around the world, we are launching our third Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in the region. Funding up to $150,000 is available via this open call for any digital innovative project and all news providers are eligible, regardless of size.

Pulse from Nigeria talking about their innovation journey.

The program has been running in the region since 2019 and the first two rounds saw 43 projects selected from 18 countries. Those recipients answered a call for projects which would increase reader engagement and/or explore new business models. The ideas ranged from novel membership strategies to Arabic language search tools.

A video showing publishers Whitebeard, L’Orient de Jour and Daraj Media in Lebanon speaking about their businesses

Successful past recipients include those featured in the videos on this blogpost as well as:

Eco-Nai+ from Ripples in Nigeria is the first digital geojournalism platform for the country. Geojournalism is a form of data journalism which takes information from users, authoritative sources such as Google Earth, meteorological agencies and others, to cover issues tied to the question of climate change.
Diaspora par TelQuel from TelQuel Digital in Morocco is a diaspora subscription platform for Morrocans of the world, publishing original content, practical guides, and history articles for audiences viewing abroad: mainly France (35%), Canada (9%) and Belgium (8%).
My Town, My News from ynet in Israel is a newsroom tool which helps journalists create multiple hyperlocal stories individualized to specific locations across the country to provide statistical information such as COVID-19 rates or vaccination figures.

You can find out more about all the previous recipients on the website.

How to apply

Applications are open from now until Tuesday, April 5 2022. Established publishers, online-only players, news startups, publisher consortia, freelancers, press agencies, broadcasters and local industry associations are all eligible to apply.

Projects will be evaluated against five criteria: innovation, impact on news ecosystem, diversity, equity and inclusion; inspiration; and feasibility. The range of projects could be varied — we are intentionally not being prescriptive and instead welcome your boldest ideas. This could be anything from using Artificial Intelligence in the newsroom to diversifying your business model or figuring out ways to increase audience engagement or even reach new audiences. Whatever it is, we want to hear your sharpest solutions to the challenges faced on the ground.

The selected projects will be eligible to receive up to $150,000, not to exceed 70% of the total project cost. Please note that Google does not take any equity or intellectual property rights in any projects or submissions.

Applications must be made online via our website and are open until Tuesday, April 5 2022 at 23:59 GMT. As part of the application process, applicants are required to produce an explanatory slidedeck (please note the link opens a page to make your own copy to work in). We will also be holding an online town hall on Tuesday, March 8 at 10am GMT with a live presentation and the opportunity to ask questions.

We are looking forward to seeing fresh ideas come out of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, a region rich with talent, potential and opportunity. For more information about the challenge, visit g.co/newsinnovation.