Have you ever been suckered into thinking that your favorite sports team just pulled off an incredible trade because it popped up when you were on Google News or Google Search? For example, I could be looking something up in Google Search and read "Marlins land Ohtani from Dodgers, Aaron Judge from Yankees in wild three team trade." Any Marlins fan would go crazy reading a headline like that until he actually started reading the story.
Google seeks to reduce the ranking of prediction-based content with misleading headlines
It wouldn't take too long to realize that this trade was merely a prediction of a move that the Marlins (or any team, really) would love to make if they could. I've been burned by such stories, and I even remember the first time it happened (you always remember your first time). I read that the Miami Heat had traded for Kawhi Leonard and was thrilled until I discovered that it was some Heat blog writer's idea of a wet dream.
It doesn't have to be a crazy sports related rumor as the topic could be news related. As you might imagine, world markets would be roiled if some headline from Google News made it sound as though the U.S. Treasury couldn't afford to service its debt. Such a story could be based on a prediction from some unemployed economist that the economy is doing so poorly, tax receipts are coming in well under forecasts.
Don't expect a quick fix from Google
To explain how Google is planning to stop prediction-based content from showing up as often as a highly ranked story in Search and Google News results, Rajan Patel, the VP of Engineering for Search at Google, posted a tweet on X. On the social media platform, Patel said Google is changing the way it does rankings to keep prediction-based content with misleading headlines from appearing as often as real news. Also, when you mix in these bogus headlines with real ones that mention a legitimate event, it makes the prediction-based content more believable in the eyes of online readers.
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While Patel does say that Google is prioritizing the rankings change, he adds that these changes will be "thoughtful" and require experimentation. As a result, it won't be a quick fix. Still, for those of you who have been burned reading what I can only characterize as "fake news," something is being done about these headlines. "This is definitely an opportunity for us to improve and we're working on it," Google's Patel said.
Tweet from Google's VP of Engineering for Search Rajan Patel. | Image credit-X
Matt Mikle, a sportswriter with Wisconsin Sports Heroics tweeted a selection of such headlines that certainly had sports fans rushing to read the story. For example, one such headline exclaimed "Bucks trade Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Brooklyn Nets." This headline made it sound as though the deal was done and surely many thought that this was the case. Right next to that example was another one that stated Giannis was shipped to the Miami Heat.
Bogus headlines announcing fake sports news based on prediction-based content. | Image credit-Matt Mikle
Mikle accurately notes that there would be nothing wrong with these headlines if it was made clear in the headline itself that what is being read is "prediction-based content." Mikle says, "But these titles make it seem like the move or trade already happened which is pure click bait."
Have you ever been burned by one of these prediction-based stories? Let us know
Not everyone is in favor of Google's attempt to rid its Search and News sites of such headlines. In Search Engine Roundtable, one reader who wrote in the comments section obviously didn't understand what has been going on and accused Google of telling people what they can write about. That isn't what is going on at all.
Surely this has happened to you. You can let us know what took place and whether you were so excited about a bogus trade that you told all of your friends about it and ended up being the fool. All you need to do is fill out the comment box below.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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