This past September, Google released a change in the way they evaluate search results to elevate original reporting. The objective of this change is to reward the news outlet that first published a breaking news story by surfacing the original article in search and Google News and keeping it longer in search results.
With this move, Google wants to reward publishers that provide original reporting, as Google recognizes the investment in time, effort and resources that news outlets and media companies have to do to be the first in getting a story published. Being first is difficult, especially when reporting complex stories that require a sustained effort over time.
To achieve that objective Google released an update to their search rater guidelines. These are documents that give the search raters indications of what they should value when evaluating search results. The search raters are a team of 10,000 individuals distributed worldwide that help train Google’s algorithm by giving feedback on the search results it provides.
The guidelines update asks search raters to give the highest rating to original news reporting, “that provides information that would not otherwise have been known had the article not revealed it”. The guidelines also instruct the raters to consider the publisher’s overall reputation. This means that publishers with a high reputation for original reporting, or with a consistent history of winning reporting awards, will be more likely to be considered the original reporting source.
What’s the impact of this search rater guidelines update?
The feedback the search raters provide is used to evaluate the effectiveness of search algorithms, and it’s used to guide algorithm updates, including Google search and Google News. So while this update doesn’t have a direct impact in search results, it does affect Google’s search algorithm.How have publishers been affected by this update?
To understand the impact of this update we have used News Dashboard data to see the change in visibility in Google News from August to December 2019. News Dashboard is an SEO visibility tool for publishers that provides data on how their articles are performing in search results and Google News. We analyzed more than 160 news websites in four categories: general news, healthcare, sports and business.General news with significant positive change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| usnews.com | 0.02 | 0.04 | 100.00% |
| indiatimes.com | 0.07 | 0.13 | 85.71% |
| washingtontimes.com | 0.06 | 0.1 | 66.67% |
| startribune.com | 0.06 | 0.1 | 66.67% |
| dailymail.co.uk | 0.55 | 0.88 | 60.00% |
| forbes.com | 0.57 | 0.89 | 56.14% |
| tomsguide.com | 0.06 | 0.09 | 50.00% |
| pcmag.com | 0.02 | 0.03 | 50.00% |
| fastcompany.com | 0.02 | 0.03 | 50.00% |
| chicagotribune.com | 0.12 | 0.17 | 41.67% |
| seattletimes.com | 0.05 | 0.07 | 40.00% |
| cbssports.com | 0.53 | 0.74 | 39.62% |
| marketwatch.com | 0.46 | 0.64 | 39.13% |
| tmz.com | 0.3 | 0.41 | 36.67% |
| newyorker.com | 0.06 | 0.08 | 33.33% |
| foxbusiness.com | 0.32 | 0.41 | 28.13% |
| theatlantic.com | 0.15 | 0.19 | 26.67% |
| nbcnews.com | 1.5 | 1.85 | 23.33% |
| washingtonpost.com | 2.14 | 2.63 | 22.90% |
| usatoday.com | 1.94 | 2.33 | 20.10% |
General news with significant negative change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| popsugar.com | 0.07 | 0.02 | -71.43% |
| bbc.co.uk | 0.03 | 0.01 | -66.67% |
| theroot.com | 0.08 | 0.03 | -62.50% |
| huffpost.com | 0.25 | 0.12 | -52.00% |
| dailycaller.com | 0.02 | 0.01 | -50.00% |
| rawstory.com | 0.06 | 0.03 | -50.00% |
| miamiherald.com | 0.1 | 0.05 | -50.00% |
| dallasnews.com | 0.06 | 0.03 | -50.00% |
| sfgate.com | 0.09 | 0.05 | -44.44% |
| pitchfork.com | 0.16 | 0.09 | -43.75% |
| breitbart.com | 0.07 | 0.04 | -42.86% |
| dailywire.com | 0.07 | 0.04 | -42.86% |
| digitaltrends.com | 0.29 | 0.17 | -41.38% |
| bloomberg.com | 0.64 | 0.38 | -40.63% |
| fortune.com | 0.05 | 0.03 | -40.00% |
| lifehacker.com | 0.21 | 0.14 | -33.33% |
| ksl.com | 0.13 | 0.09 | -30.77% |
| rollingstone.com | 0.17 | 0.12 | -29.41% |
| independent.co.uk | 0.34 | 0.24 | -29.41% |
| usmagazine.com | 0.07 | 0.05 | -28.57% |
| cbslocal.com | 0.32 | 0.23 | -28.13% |
| kotaku.com | 0.38 | 0.28 | -26.32% |
| engadget.com | 0.96 | 0.72 | -25.00% |
| gizmodo.com | 0.69 | 0.52 | -24.64% |
| cbsnews.com | 1.74 | 1.35 | -22.41% |
| bostonglobe.com | 0.09 | 0.07 | -22.22% |
| npr.org | 1.43 | 1.13 | -20.98% |
| variety.com | 0.24 | 0.19 | -20.83% |
| chron.com | 0.05 | 0.04 | -20.00% |
| vice.com | 0.05 | 0.04 | -20.00% |
| telegraph.co.uk | 0.15 | 0.12 | -20.00% |
Healthcare sites with significant positive change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| usnews.com | 0.04 | 0.28 | 600.00% |
| who.int | 0.05 | 0.33 | 560.00% |
| yahoo.com | 1.92 | 2.02 | 5.21% |
Healthcare sites with significant negative change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| thelancet.com | 0.16 | 0.05 | -68.75% |
| nih.gov | 0.35 | 0.11 | -68.57% |
| medscape.com | 0.77 | 0.44 | -42.86% |
| healthline.com | 0.41 | 0.24 | -41.46% |
| menshealth.com | 0.23 | 0.16 | -30.43% |
| webmd.com | 0.44 | 0.36 | -18.18% |
Sports sites with significant positive change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| si.com | 0.41 | 1.32 | 221.95% |
| cricbuzz.com | 0.09 | 0.18 | 100.00% |
| sbnation.com | 0.36 | 0.65 | 80.56% |
| espncricinfo.com | 0.07 | 0.11 | 57.14% |
| cbssports.com | 3.32 | 4.28 | 28.92% |
| theringer.com | 0.41 | 0.52 | 26.83% |
Sports sites with significant negative change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| deadspin.com | 1.86 | 0 | -100.00% |
| foxsports.com | 0.05 | 0.01 | -80.00% |
| bleacherreport.com | 1.06 | 0.79 | -25.47% |
Business sites with significant positive change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| consumerreports.org | 0.01 | 0.07 | 600.00% |
| hbr.org | 0.01 | 0.07 | 600.00% |
| bizjournals.com | 0.1 | 0.27 | 170.00% |
| economictimes.indiatimes.com | 0.04 | 0.09 | 125.00% |
| fastcompany.com | 0.06 | 0.12 | 100.00% |
| businesswire.com | 0.07 | 0.11 | 57.14% |
| forbes.com | 0.97 | 1.31 | 35.05% |
| marketwatch.com | 2.88 | 3.57 | 23.96% |
Business sites with significant negative change in Google News visibility Aug-Dec 2019
| Domain | Visibility August 2019 | Visibility December 2019 | Change |
| economist.com | 0.01 | 0 | -100.00% |
| bloomberg.com | 2.08 | 0.94 | -54.81% |
| investing.com | 0.48 | 0.23 | -52.08% |
| reuters.com | 2.57 | 1.56 | -39.30% |
| fortune.com | 0.28 | 0.18 | -35.71% |
| inc.com | 0.11 | 0.08 | -27.27% |
| yahoo.com | 6 | 4.42 | -26.33% |
