Bing has joined Google in the battle against fake news with the addition of the “Fact Check” label in search results.
Both news articles and regular web pages may earn the Fact Check label, provided Bing determines they contain fact-checked information.
Another requirement for receiving the Fact Check label is schema.org ClaimReview markup.
Bing notes the markup alone isn’t sufficient; the site owner must also provide evidence that the content has been fact-checked.
Bing also advises that your content meets the following criteria before using the fact check markup:
- Analysis must cite sources and be transparent about methods used.
- Claims and claim checks must be easy for readers to see within the body content. It must be made clear to readers what was checked and the conclusions reached.
- The page hosting the ClaimReview markup must have a brief summary of the fact check and evaluation.
Bing warns that if a site decides to use ClaimReview markup without adhering to the criteria, it may penalize the site.
Google first introduced the Fact Check label earlier this year, and now Bing is following suit.
With so much information on the web, it can be difficult to get all sides of a story or verify the validity of everything you read.
The more we can rely on search engines to deliver relevant, factual results, the better off we are as web users.
It would be beneficial to see more search engines adopt Fact Check and ClaimReview markup in the future.
