With the coronavirus reaching even the most remote places on Earth, there should be no shortage of news coverage and stories about the virus.
Most if not all news agencies are covering the spread of this pandemic, making the internet just full of coronavirus-related information.
As a result of that, there is simply too much noise that can confuse people who really want to look for facts.
This is why Google has launched a COVID-19 hub on Google News. What it does, is keeping people updated with coronavirus information but only from reliable sources.
The hub organizes news from authoritative global and local sources to help readers of Google News to access the latest guidance regarding the virus. Users can even select the region they want to be updated with, and look for news related to the coronavirus, in topics like economy, health, and travel.
And because Google is a strong advocate of AI and algorithms, the hub also uses the technologies to surface results from local news most relevant to the readers, including tweets from local authorities.
in the announcement, Google said that the hub has been made available for users of the web, iOS and Android in more than 20 countries, with Google planning to add more places.
Also to ease Google users in getting the most accurate coronavirus-related information on the web, the search giant is also taking extra steps to ensure that it has included the latest authoritative resources as its sources.
Google has also updated Google Assistant to answer common coronavirus questions. Most answers the Assistant sources from, include the World Health Organization (WHO). And if Assistant isn't getting the most adequate information from its sources, the digital assistant will simply say that it doesn't "have any information about that."
Google is also updating its Podcast app with a dedicated coronavirus carousel.
And to curb misinformation, Google also said that it is working with dedicated fact-checker.
In another part of the story, Google also has released a COVID-19 Announcement Submission Tool.
The tool that is made available in Google Search Console, allows web publishers to create coronavirus-related announcements straight from the Google Search Console without having to use structured data.
“This includes the closure of facilities, rescheduling of events, and new availability of medical facilities (for example, testing centers). Google Search uses this information to better understand the content on your web page and show the important announcement to relevant people.”
The tool is meant for “authority websites” that cannot use structured data.
Google Search Console said that:
"The tool is focused on health and government organizations; it doesn’t support news articles."
Previously, Gogole launched a COVID-19 information website, as well as releasing anonymized data of Google Maps' user location for researchers and governments to help understand people's mobility.