Does Your Mom Edit Your Blog? Google Wants to Know.
by Peter Kafka
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 9:30 AM PT
Do a Google news search, for say, “Will Ferrell,” and you’ll see that the search giant has started labeling news items from blogs as…news items from blogs. Why?
Turns out Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt isn’t quite sure himself.
But posed with that question during a Boston news conference yesterday, Schmidt did use the opportunity to expound on the difference between pro bloggers and amateur ones. Or at least, his vision of the difference.
From Nieman Journalism Lab blogger Zachary Seward’s transcript of his exchange with Schmidt:
Me: A very small question. Google News very recently added a label for blogs, to differentiate from non-blogs. It seemed weird in 2009 to make that distinction. I wondered, did you have any input on that or –?
Eric Schmidt: I was not directly involved in that. There seems to be a difference between blogs and traditional news. It’s sometimes hard to distinguish because many people in the traditional news are also bloggers.
Me: Or they use a blog platform.
Schmidt: Or they use a blog platform. So we’re trying to find that line. And it’s hard to articulate what that difference is.
Me: How would describe that line if it’s not based on the tech behind the publishing platform?
Schmidt: No, it’s not the technology. My guess is–again, I’m speculating, which is always a mistake–it has a lot to do with the infrastructure around the writer. So a blog that’s associated with a major, legitimate organization–of which, I think, the majority, if not everyone, in the room is associated with–would be, I think, treated differently than an individual blogger who’s using his or her right of free expression to say whatever he thinks. So the presence of an editor, as an example. You know, an editor that’s not your mom.
As Seward points out, Schmidt is wrong about the way Google News categorizes. As best I can tell, Google basically lumps all blogs, including this one, which I like to think of as reasonably professional, in its “blog” category. And no, despite her occasional appearances on this site, Kara Swisher’s mother is not an editor here.
Anyway, the real question for me isn’t “how does Google refer to my work in its search results?” but “how does Google determine where to put my my work in its search results?” Schmidt and company can call it whatever they want–just send those eyeballs my way.
[image credit: kevindooley]
Comments
I work with the Google News team and wanted to provide more detail on our blog-labeling policy. It reads:
“Google News strives to provide you with access to as many sources of news and perspectives on current events as possible. Many users have asked us to let them know when they’re clicking on a blog article in Google News. To satisfy this request, articles published in a blog format appear with a (blog) tag next to the publication name. (We add similar tags to video, press release, satire, and subscription content.)
“Blogs typically identify themselves as such, and adhere to standard blog formatting by displaying regular entries in order from newest to oldest. Websites that organize their articles in a more editorial fashion and employ a complex layout are generally not considered blogs. We acknowledge the difficulty in characterizing blogs and the rapidly changing publishing landscape, but we also hope to provide useful ways of helping you select what you want to read. If you find a source in Google News you believe to be mislabeled, please send us the name of that publication, and we’ll review it.”
The policy and a form for contacting us can be found on our Google News help center: http://www.google.com/support/.....wer=164743
Posted by Chris Gaither at November 5th, 2009 at 11:17 amThanks, Chris.
Posted by Peter Kafka at November 5th, 2009 at 1:00 pm