News and Research articles on Junk news

Disinformation optimised: gaming search engine algorithms to amplify junk news

Samantha Bradshaw, Oxford Internet Institute
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Dec 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.4.1442

This paper examines how Google Search ranked 29 junk news domains between 2016 and 2019, finding that SEO — rather than paid advertising — is the most important strategy for generating discoverability via Google Search. Google has taken several steps to combat the spread of disinformation on Search, and these strategies have been largely successful at limiting the discoverability of junk news.