A 13-word edit can steer what deep-research AI agents recommend
Fake entities appeared in 38% to 51% of reports when agents retrieved a manipulated page, rising to 62% with multiple pages.
Topic: Misinformation
How brands can respond to misleading Google AI Overviews
AI-driven search can turn forum opinions into 'facts.' Here's your emerging ORM playbook for monitoring, response, and AI visibility
Google to pause US election ads after polls close on November 5th
Google's temporary post-election ad restrictions could significantly affect political campaigns' ability to share election-related messaging.
Google tightens disclosure rules for synthetic content in political ads
Advertisers will need to disclose synthetic or digitally altered content in election ads, as Google aims to combat misinformation.
No link between social media engagement and content readership, study finds
New research suggests that publishers may not derive the same benefits from using social media as they did previously.
TikTok rolls out new label for AI-generated content
The platform also plans to start automatically labelling content it detects may have been created or edited using AI.
Google to make political ads disclose AI content
Political campaigns must clearly state when AI-generated images and audio have been used from November.
TikTok will start banning political campaign fundraising
A verified account, indicated by a blue checkmark, means the platform has confirmed the ownership of the account.
Google’s digital marketing course offers bad SEO advice
No, having 2% keyword density and a minimum 300-word count is not an “industry standard.”
Google blocked 3.4 billion ads, suspended 5.6 million accounts in 2021
Google's 2021 Ads Safety Report details threats ranging from cloaking to abusive and inaccurate COVID-19 information.
Pinterest prohibits climate misinformation in ads, content
Pinterest says any ads containing conspiracy theories, misinformation or disinformation around climate change are explicitly prohibited.
7 reasons why people believe SEO myths
Here are seven reasons why people believe in SEO myths and misinformation – and what to do when these situations arise.
Facebook confirms ‘massive ranking failure’
A bug allowed Facebook posts with nudity, violence, Russian propaganda to appear in users' news feeds.
Bing’s ‘Russian invasion of Ukraine’ results show Opinions section and timelines
The Opinions section contextualizes news-related listings for users, which may help reduce misinformation.
Facebook drops ‘News’ from News Feed in rebrand
The News Feed is no more. Facebook says the News Feed will now simply be known as the Feed.
Facebook’s topic exclusion controls test rolls out to more advertisers
In its early tests, advertisers were able to avoid appearing next to exclusion categories 94-99% of the time.
The July core update is “effectively complete”; Tuesday’s daily brief
And, how search professionals can help fight against misinformation in their communities.
Google blocks 3.1 billion ads in a tumultuous 2020, says annual Ads Safety Report
The report lists misinformation around COVID-19 and the political climate as well as ad fraud as top concerns last year.
Facebook intros new knowledge panel-like information boxes
The Wikipedia-sourced info boxes mean users may not have to leave the platform to look up entities.
Google shouldn’t pause algorithm updates during the pandemic, expert SEOs say [Video]
While it’s not business as usual, search engines need to continue to help users, provide vital resources and fight against misinformation.
What Google’s Search Relations team has been doing in response to COVID-19 [Video]
As the dominant search engine, Google has a responsibility to provide timely resources and fight misinformation. Search Advocate Daniel Waisberg explains some of the company’s initiatives in this clip from Live with Search Engine Land.
Google bans face mask ads globally due to misleading coronavirus claims
The face mask ban comes amid a rise in false claims around coronavirus prevention and price gouging.
Content accuracy is not a ranking factor
Google’s Danny Sullivan explained that its systems rely on topic relevance and authority to rank content.
Google launches News Initiative subscriptions lab for publishers
The company also announced new fact-checking tools and other efforts to stop the spread of 'misinformation.'
Google took down 2.3 billion bad ads, 1 million ad accounts in 2018
The number of removed ads was down, but banned advertiser accounts nearly doubled from 2017.
YouTube aims to show more authoritative search results around news topics
Google to provide more sources and context on breaking news-related searches in YouTube.
There’s nothing stopping climate change deniers from using Google AdWords
The latest case study on ways in which targeting algorithms determine the kinds of ads we see.
Google adds new knowledge panel to provide information about news publishers
In an effort to combat fake news and equip searchers with more data about news sources, Google has released a new publisher knowledge graph.
Google promises to improve accuracy of tweets shown in search results
After misinformation surfaced in the Google search results under the Twitter section for the Texas church shooter's name, Google has promised to make changes.
Google’s ‘Project Owl’ — a three-pronged attack on fake news & problematic content
Google hopes to improve by better surfacing authoritative content and enlisting feedback about suggested searches and Featured Snippets answers.
Google’s “One True Answer” problem — when featured snippets go bad
Obama's planning a coup? Women are evil? Several presidents were in the KKK? Republicans are Nazis? Google can go spectacularly wrong with some of its direct answers.
Four US presidents in the KKK? Google’s latest problem with featured answers
Technically called a “featured snippet,” Google lists four U.S. presidents as Klan members, even though there's no conclusive evidence any were.
Have Google and Facebook become unwitting tools of extremism?
Google and Facebook are committed to facts and progress, but The Guardian argues they may be helping to undermine both.
Google: Autocomplete does not favor any candidate or cause
Google's communications team and Matt Cutts come out to call the allegations that Google altered their search suggestions in favor of Hillary Clinton false.
According To Google, Barack Obama Is King Of The United States
Ask Google who is the [King Of United States] and Google will inform you that it is Barack Obama, the current President of the United States. The Google Answer is pulled from Breitbart, a story they posted five days ago named All Hail King Barack Obama, Emperor Of The United States Of America! It appears […]
Natalie Portman Is Not Dead – Despite What Google’s Real Time Results (Sometimes) Say
Irony & deja vu. Earlier this year, a rumor swept the internet that Jeff Goldblum had died — and for a short time, searches on Google seemed to confim it. Now the same is happening to Natalie Portman — who like Goldblum, is alive and well despite what Google’s search results say. Jeff Goldblum Is […]