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After weeks of reporting, a journalist breaks a story. Moments after its release, another media group publishes an article mimicking scoop recycling, which often captures as much web traffic as the original.
Publishers have complained about this dynamic for years, since the explosion of digital news has erased the day – to – day exclusivity enjoyed by the time of the day. impression. On Thursday, Google said it had changed its search algorithm to take advantage of "original reports", which would be reinforced by changes in search guidelines.
Richard Gingras, Google's vice president of information, said in a blog post that changes to the company's search guidelines would help the company to "better recognize the information from the origin" and to make them more visible on the Internet.
"This means that readers interested in the latest news can find the story that has triggered everything," wrote Mr. Gingras, "and that publishers can take advantage of a wider dissemination of their original stories." ".
In a phone interview Thursday, Mr. Gingras acknowledged that the change was in Google's interest. "With Google Search and Google News, we are doing everything in our power to continue to earn and retain the trust of our users," he said.
Google and other major technology platforms have recently been under scrutiny – and federal antitrust investigations – partly because of their influence on the digital information industry. Google, Facebook and Amazon are collecting the bulk of online advertising revenue available.
The News Media Alliance, a professional group, strongly criticized high-tech companies and lobbied lawmakers for a limited exemption from antitrust laws allowing retail outlets to collectively bargain with platforms.
In turn, several platforms have indicated their willingness to work with publishers. Facebook launched a license the articles of major publishers and post them in a "News" tab. The Apple News app has agreements with some media companies, including Condé Nast, to put forward their articles and divide their revenues.
With the changes on Thursday, Google seemed to recognize that publications that exploit new information could use the help of platforms.
"Some stories can also be of crucial importance in the impact they can have on our world and be difficult to gather, forcing journalists to conduct in-depth investigations to find facts and facts. sources, "said Gingras. "These are among the reasons why we aim to support these industry efforts."
Google's guidelines would also elevate outlets known for their track record of accurate reporting, taking into account indicators such as the number of journalism awards earned by a publication.
Several technology platforms, including YouTube owned by Google, have been criticized for appearing to promote sensational content without any foundation. Shortly after the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for example, the The first video in vogue on YouTube exploited false theories that survivors of the shooting were "crisis actors".
This type of inflammatory content can attract public opinion in the short term while damaging the reputation of any company that makes it widely available.
The three examples of press articles that Mr Gingras quoted in his article were published by major media outlets: the Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, the Washington Post and the New York Times. It was unclear what the algorithm change would mean for small and medium-sized publications that have struggled in recent years trying to move from print to digital. Gingras said Google is making greater efforts to find tailored solutions for different local outlets. He cited reporting on natural disasters as the type of local coverage that could benefit from the changes.
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