Google warns users when their search results are not reliable

Google will now warn users when search results are rapidly changing around a news flash. Some searches will now display a warning that "It looks like these results seem to be changing quickly", and a subtitle will explain that "if this topic is new, it can sometimes take time for results to be added by reliable sources." the company suggests in a blog post that users might want to check back later when they have found more results.

Notice initially appears in US-based English results "when a topic is rapidly evolving, and a range of sources hasn't yet weighed in." Google will expand the presence of the tool to other markets in the next coming months.

"While Google Search will always be there with the most useful results we can provide, sometimes the reliable information you're searching for just isn't online yet," the company further explains. "This can be particularly true for breaking news or emerging topics, when the information that's published first may not be the most reliable." Yesterday Recode reported on the feature, following a tweet from Stanford Internet Observatory researcher Renee DiResta.

A sample Google search screenshot features the query "UFO filmed traveling 106 mph", an apparent reference to a recent tabloid story about a 2016 UFO sighting in Wales. Someone had gotten this video of the police report published in Wales, and it got a bit of press coverage. But there's not much about it yet, "Google search public link Danny Sullivan told Recode." But people are probably looking for it; they might be on social media, so we can say it's starting to trend. And we can also say that there are not many necessarily great things available. And we also think that maybe new things will appear. "

That whimsical example aside, Google has inadvertently displayed incorrect information after mass shooting events, where first official reports are often inaccurate and deliberate misinformation is common. (This is sometimes compounded by "data gaps" or keywords with few search results and can be easily hijacked by bad actors.) This warning will not necessarily prevent poor quality content from appearing, and it is not clear exactly how Google determines a sufficient variety of sources. But it could remove some of the false legitimacy that Google's high ranking can confer on unreliable early search results.