Google adds new knowledge panel to provide information about news publishers

Google has announced a new knowledge graph card for news publishers in which searchers can learn more about a specific news publication directly in the search results.

Google said this will help searchers learn about “a publication you’re not familiar with or one you wanted to learn more about.” The knowledge panels also give searchers faster access to information about a publisher and can help Google address the misinformation and fake news issues it has been fighting for some time now.

The news publisher knowledge graph will show topics the publisher commonly covers, major awards the publisher has won and claims the publisher has made that have been reviewed by third parties.

Here is a screen shot of this feature from Google:

Google explains there is no way to directly control which publishers are able to surface the new knowledge graphs and what information is shown but offers these tips:

Like search results, many factors go into what’s shown in the Knowledge Panel. Publishers that consistently create fresh, news-related online content can improve their chances of having a Knowledge Panel.

Google said these knowledge panels do not influence how a site ranks in the search results.

Additional tabs of content that can show in the news publisher knowledge panel in Google results include:

• Writes about: Topics that are frequently covered by the publisher.
• Awards: Notable awards that the publisher has received.
• Reviewed claims: This shows up when a significant amount of a publisher’s recent content has been reviewed by an authoritative fact-checker.