Google News and Ranking Algorithm - Under the Scanner

Google News service does not make use of the regular ranking algorithm ‘PageRank’ which is used by Google Search. Instead, it has its own unique ranking system which is based on a number of factors like user clicks, freshness of the article, geographical location and approximate authority of the publication on the particular news topic. This revelation was made by Josh Cohen who is the business product manager of Google News in a recent interview with Danny Sullivan.

A common complaint that is often put forward by news publishers especially the Italian counterparts is that Google does not provide adequate transparency about Google News system and the way it operates. Cohen clearly disagrees to this fact stating that the company started a news blog to make sure information regarding the same is available to all users and publishers. A recent blog titled ‘myths of Google News exposed’ was specifically on this argumentative subject.

He also mentioned that there is a special forum for publishers on Google News and also a help area which is exclusively for publishers to post any sort of queries they have regarding the site. It is true that the ranking system of Google News can seem like a mystery when compared with the regular Google Search but the company maintains the stand that they are doing everything to keep things simple and transparent for its publishers.

Cohen explained that by ‘story ranking’ does not mean a single story or news item but a cluster of publications or a group of related articles for a particular news item. The unique ranking algorithm of Google News can figure out how to cluster these related stories but within each cluster, the user can click on any individual story or news item.

He also stressed on the fact that the company does not employ any human editors but the entire editing process of Google News is left to its ranking system.

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