How Google will protect you from "fake news" in Google Search

Even with a new administration in Washington, people are still worried about getting bombarded with "fake news." To help stop the spread of lies and misinformation, Google discussed a new search feature last week at Google I/O called "About this Result" which will help give users more information about the source of search results. Found underneath a website in a search results list, users will be able to see how a site describes itself, what others think of it, and a link to its Wikipedia page.

The idea is to help users decide whether or not they can trust a particular source. As the feature is used more and more often, those who rely on Google Search will be able to use the information they receive about a particular source to decide whether or not it can be trusted.

Obviously, those sites that can be relied on to deliver legitimate information are the ones that you are going to want to gather information from on Google Search. Google says that if a search reveals information from a source you've never heard of before, "About this Result" can provide you with "context or peace of mind, especially if you’re looking for something important, like health or financial information."

If a site doesn't have a Wikipedia page, Google says that it will show you other context including the date that the site was first indexed by Google. The feature was originally mentioned by Google in a blog post on February 1st and will be launched later this month for all English language results with other languages getting the feature later.