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Google Search will label ‘highly cited’ sources in the Top Stories carousel

To help people evaluate news that appears in Search, Google is adding a “highly cited” label to the Top Stories carousel and other information literacy tips.

Google will now “identify stories that have been frequently cited by other news organizations” with a “highly cited” label. This marker will appear in the top-left corner of a cover image when a story is being highlighted. With this update, Google isn’t quite highlighting the original source material yet, but it’s close.

“Highly cited” will first be available on mobile Google Search in English for the US before launching globally in the “coming weeks.”

You will be able to find it on anything from an investigative article, to an interview, an announcement, a press release or a local news story, as long as other publishers indicate its relevance by linking to it. We’re particularly interested in the potential to elevate original reporting, making it even easier for people to discover and engage with the publishers and journalists whose work brings unique value to a story.

The other new feature today builds on Google Search’s automatic notice for breaking news and trending topic results that have yet to garner a lot of information:

Starting today, on searches in English in the U.S., these notices will also include tips to help you evaluate information online – reminding you that you can check whether a source is trusted on a topic, or come back later when there’s more information available.

Besides the bullet points, Google links to a help page with “pointers to help you navigate the information you’re finding online.”

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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