Google's new set of changes seek to limit offensive search resultsApril 25, 2017 - 19:01 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Google on Tuesday, April 25 announced a new set of changes to its search engine, in an effort to deliver higher quality results and limit fake news. The company outlined changes to its search ranking, feedback tools, and transparency practices in a blog post published today. To limit the spread of offensive or inaccurate search results, Google recently updated its Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which human evaluators use to gauge the quality of search results. The updated guidelines provide clearer examples of low-quality results, including “misleading information, unexpected offensive results, hoaxes and unsupported conspiracy theories,” engineering VP Ben Gomes wrote in the blog post. Google has also tweaked its algorithms to prioritize authoritative results. Google faced criticism in recent months for delivering search results that were wildly inaccurate or offensive. In December, Google’s top result for the query “did the Holocaust happen?” came from a white supremacist website. Gomes writes that such results “are less likely to appear” under the changes announced this week. Google has also introduced a new feedback mechanism for users to report inaccurate autocomplete suggestions or featured snippets — the boxes of text that appear at the top of certain queries. Google’s featured snippets have in recent months sourced results from sites that traffic in conspiracy theories and hoaxes. Users can now report inaccurate or offensive snippets and autocomplete suggestions directly from the results page. Google is seeking to be more transparent about its search practices, as well, and how its algorithms can deliver outlandish results. The company’s policy on content removal and autocomplete suggestions is now available on its help center page, and more detailed information on search ranking has been added to its “how search works” site. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Kazakh Foreign Minister arrives in Armenia Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu on Monday, March 18 arrived in Armenia for a two-day trip. Aliyev touts “good chances” for normalizing ties with Armenia Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has declared that there are “good chances” for normalizing relations with Armenia. Putin secures fifth term as Russian president Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a fifth term in office through a dubious national plebiscite. Top Armenian, Indian defense officials discuss cooperation The discussions primarily focused on enhancing cooperation in the defence sector between Armenia and India. |