Google, in an effort to clean up false information, has included fact check within their image search function. They announced this with a blog post and tweet from their SearchLiason.
“Starting today, we are surfacing fact check information in Google Images globally to help people navigate these issues and make more informed judgments about what they see on the web… These labels may appear both for fact check articles about specific images and for fact check articles that include an image in the story.” – Harris Cohen from Google
Here’s an example of what it looks like in the image results page:
Statistics and facts are a dime a dozen on the internet. They have been thrown around as facts since the Internet came into being and searchers is often left wondering what is true and what isn’t. The fact check result will include the claim and result from an accredited website that dives into the data to very authenticity.
Fact Check in SERPs
Google already highlights fact check functionality in traditional search results and Google News with the Schema.org microdata set of ClaimReview. If searching for a disputed fact, the fact check feature will appear like this:
By connecting this fact checking feature to more areas of the search experience, Google is taking steps in the right direction towards transparency.
Transparency with SERP Facts
With this announcement it appears that Google wants to take a stronger stance on the quality of all types of SERPs. Transparency within search is warranted as misinformation is rampant throughout our online experience. With the U.S. November 2020 election right around the corner, fact checking should be paramount with searchers looking for guidance. With new technology like Deepfake that can easily manufacture images and videos that seem real there needs to be a way to verify what is fact what is false. Search trust will be a huge factor in all future searches as efforts like this continue to develop in all search engines.
Transparency in SEO
Withholding vital information that your clients request is all too common in digital marketing realm. We address this issue with frequent calls to our clients, up-to-date reports and fully transparent process of fulfillment in all our endeavors. Being transparent is paramount as we here at Boostability strive to be transparent with our SMB SEO strategy by using our proprietary SEO software with our LaunchPad reporting platform.
