14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been making some changes to its “In the News” box to include more than just regular news sites, adding blog posts, discussions on Reddit, videos and non-news sites.
The news box, as you may know, is the area at the top of a search results page where Google will display three news pieces related to the topic you’re looking for. It won’t appear on each and every query, but it will be present in enough of them that you’ll notice, Search Engine Land reports.
“We will be pulling from all over the web which means that we will present as diverse a range of voices as possible to ensure we get users to the answers they are looking for. We are always working to give our users the best possible answer to their questions. That might come in the form of a video, a press release, a blog, a photo, a social media post or a news article,” Google said about the changes to its algorithm.
Up until now, content in this box came from Google News, a place that hosts only news sites that Google has given its stamp of approval to. The list is quite long as it is, but it seems that Google wants to expand the purpose of this box to add in more content from a more diversified range of content makers.
The company’s recent algorithm update said that it would benefit small and medium sites, so perhaps this new move will also see such sites get a kick to the top in Google’s site ranking system.
Reddit results start popping up
Interesting enough, there are also threads from Reddit in the new “In The News” box. The “frontpage of the Internet” is often populated by posts made by users about their daily lives, but also by news articles from various publications.
Aside from the personal nature of Reddit posts, it’s also interesting because it will land curse words straight on Google’s search results pages, even when Safe Search is turned on. Since traditional news sources are less likely to drop such bombs in their headlines, the addition of blog posts and Reddit content will make searching for things a bit more exciting for users while scouring the Internet for information.
It should be interesting to see what sources Google will be including in the box. It would be even nicer if we could see these sources in the News category as well since clicking on the “More news” button displays the regular results, from vetted sources.