Tess Townsend

Google is demoting misleading and offensive content in its search by updating algorithms and offering users new ways to report bad results. The change follows increased attention to flaws in top search results, including the promotion of fake news — and deliberately misleading or false information formatted to look like news — during the 2016 presidential election.

Google said it has updated its algorithms to better prioritize “authoritative” content. Content may be deemed authoritative based on signals such as affiliation of a site with a university or verified news source, how often other sites link to the site in question and the quality of the sites that link. “We’ve adjusted our signals to help surface more authoritative pages and demote low-quality content, so that issues similar to the Holocaust denial results that we saw back in December are less likely to appear,” writes Ben Gomes, Google’s executive in charge of search, in a blog post published today. Additionally, users can now flag autocomplete features and highlighted results that are offensive, false or otherwise problematic. “We plan to use this feedback to help improve our algorithms,” writes Gomes.

Alphabet has shifted hundreds of staff from its internet access unit — which is called Access, and includes Google Fiber — over to Google, and hired former broadband executive Gregory McCray to head the unit. McCray, previously CEO of Aero Communications, replaces Craig Barratt, who left his role as chief executive of Access in October.

The changes at Access raise questions about the future of the subsidiary. Barratt’s departure coincided with other cutbacks at Access. These included an announcement of layoffs and the halting of a rollout of high-speed internet service Fiber to new cities. (At one point last year, it seemed Alphabet wanted to build out high-speed fiber internet access across the US, competing directly with large telecom companies like Comcast and AT&T. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.) Asked if Access could potentially shut down following the latest cutbacks, a spokesperson for the unit said it would not be going away, noting that it is among four core revenue drivers of Alphabet’s “Other Bets,” or smaller units outside of Google.