Google is facing accusations of spreading fake news, after being repeatedly discovered sharing falsehoods and conspiracy theories through its “featured snippets in search” functionality. It can show them in the search results directly, and is also the basis for the quick answers provided through Google’s smart speaker device, the Google Home. But when it doesn’t, it pulls from sites sharing fake news, propaganda and simple lies. The focus on search snippets comes at an awkward time for Google. After a request for comment, a Google spokesperson said: “Featured Snippets in Search provide an automatic and algorithmic match to a given search query, and the content comes from third-party sites.

Source: The Guardian March 06, 2017 10:08 UTC