A new article on
Search Engine Journal reports that Google is reportedly planning an algorithm change targeting content that makes unverified or slanderous claims about other people.
A New York Times report states that Google is planning on changing its algorithm to demote websites that publish unverified or slanderous claims about other people. Recent New York Times articles have documented how websites build businesses by preying on victims of slander:
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For many years, the vicious cycle has spun: Websites solicit lurid, unverified complaints about supposed cheaters, sexual predators, deadbeats and scammers. People slander their enemies. The anonymous posts appear high in Google results for the names of victims. Then the websites charge the victims thousands of dollars to take the posts down."
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Google's algorithm changes will prevent these predatory websites from surfacing in search results when a person's name is searched for. Google also has a concept called "known victims" that aims to protect victims of slander from being targeted multiple times.
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"When people report to the company that they have been attacked on sites that charge to remove posts, Google will automatically suppress similar content when their names are searched for. "Known victims" also includes people whose nude photos have been published online without their consent, allowing them to request suppression of explicit results for their names."
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According to the New York Times, Google was unaware of an ongoing problem with "slander-peddling" websites in its search results until it was brought to the company's attention this year. In the past, policies were in place that enabled individuals to request the removal of slanderous pages from search results. Successful removals led to a demotion signal for sites publishing said content.
Pandu Nayak is Vice President of Google Search and recently confirmed that in a blog post where he stated the New York Times managed to highlight the search engine's limitations. He also explained the aim of the new algorithm:
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"To help people who are dealing with extraordinary cases of repeated harassment, we're implementing an improvement to our approach to further protect known victims. Now, once someone has requested a removal from one site with predatory practices, we will automatically apply ranking protections to help prevent content from other similar low-quality sites from appearing in search results for people's names. We're also looking to expand these protections further, as part of our ongoing work in this space."
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