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News articles from trusted publishers are set to appear at the top of YouTube when news stories are breaking.
The move is part of a $25m commitment by Google to improve the quality of news-related content available on the video sharing site and stem the spread of less reliable reporting.
YouTube is mindful that it takes more time to edit news video packages together during breaking news moments compared to written articles, so will begin to feature previews of articles from authoritative sources at the top of search results.
The articles will only appear if it’s related to the users’ search query and provide a link to the full article.
However, Google is only planning to make the feature available in the US for now.
“Authoritativeness is essential to viewers, especially during fast-moving, breaking news events, so we’ve been investing in new product features to prominently surface authoritative sources,” the company said in a blog post.
The changes are the latest to come from the Google News Initiative (GNI), which launched in March amid growing concerns over fake news.
Google is also rolling out a feature that displays source information from the likes of Wikipedia and Encyclopædia Britannica in a bid to help users make their own judgments.
“We remain committed to working with the journalism community to build a more sustainable video ecosystem for news organisations,” the company continued.
“We know there is a lot of work to do, but we’re eager to provide a better experience to users who come to YouTube every day to learn more about what is happening in the world from a diversity of sources.”
