Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) owned video sharing platform YouTube has recently introduced a new feature that gives additional information about the authenticity of users’ sensitive search query. This additional information comes as a popup at the top of the search result page on YouTube. The search recommendation algorithm of YouTube is rewired to fact check the search query of sensitive information that is floated over the internet.
The increasing consumption of video content in India has led to the rise of fake videos and news on the internet. In the era of WhatsApp and high-speed 4G mobile internet, such videos and news are capable of creating a hoax and bring a nuisance to society. In order to curb the impact of such content, YouTube is rolling out the new fact-checking feature validating the authenticity of such viral videos and news.
The customized fact check won’t completely black out or restrain the video footage or it does not identify a particular video result as misappropriating content related to the user’s search. Instead, it just points out and flags the authentic and reliable source of information in regards to the user’s sensitive search query trending at that moment over the web.
YouTube has taken this move to assure its users a foolproof experience while searching in its platform.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to build a better news experience on YouTube, we are expanding our information panels to bring fact checks from eligible publishers to YouTube,” said a YouTube spokesperson in a statement to Mashable.
YouTube’s Efforts to Curb the Menace
Fact Check feature is enabled in order to nullify the rumours and deceiving content that prevailing on the internet. The message alerts pop up with the starting word “Hoax Alert!” or “FAKE!” in regards to the infectious and misappropriate content inclined to the search results.
This kind of alert is developed by about six of YouTube’s certified fact-checking partners who have gone through a complete evaluation and eligibility screening process. These partners are also working with Facebook to ensure the credibility of the news thronging in social media.
YouTube considers operating through the schema.org ClaimReview markup process for the information panel’s functionalities.
YouTube explains the new feature with the sample trending news over the web.
YouTube explained the functionality of this specific fact-check with the curated example with the above screenshot. As in this scenario, a user did a refined search related to the sensitive information about the painkiller paracetamol being contaminated with a hemorrhagic disease called the “Machupo” virus. At the head of the search results page, the user receives a popup with information nullifying the claim as it found to be false.
Just a foolproof search! It feels clever right??!!
Why Information panel rolled out for India?
India is YouTube’s one of the largest user bases and winning markets with nearly 250 million users. The fact-checking information panel is released to some specific user category in India. But YouTube is taking the most drill to roll it out globally. The fact-check column facilitates the truth both in English as well as in Hindi languages to update its Indian users.
India is one of the countries with such an economic rate of data prices, which is also reported the lowest in the whole world. This led to the exponential boom of video content consumption in India. It is found that millions of Indians who are novice about internet technology consume online video content more than reading carefully curated articles or TV content. Most of the people still prefer video results to context as an easy method of grasping the news.
It is reported that some of the recent incidents, such as the ongoing conflict and following surgical strike between India and Pakistan, have led to a huge messy mop of misappropriating information mushrooming across various social media platforms. Hence, in a measure to immune Indian people over the fake news crawling on the web, YouTube has introduced this feature in India. The rollout of the fact-check feature by YouTube also makes more sense considering upcoming elections as it would help people to refrain from the hoax and creating a nuisance.
