pixel_juice - 9:44 pm on Apr 10, 2003 (gmt 0)

Algo explanations don't excuse the fact that a) certain select bloggers have disproportionate power due to the freshbot, and b) if Google's bot can't tell real news from corporate press releases and industry astroturf, then it shouldn't be called Google News.

Kackle, why do those two things mean that Google news is not a news site? The most you could say is that it isn't a very accurate news site that it's biased, and that would only be your opinion anyway. What is 'real news' and why is Google's defiition any worse than your own?

Don't expect the public to study Google for months so that they can determine the reasons why the rankings shift the way they do

The general public have no need whatsoever to concern themselves with the algorithm. They use Google news to look up news just the same as any other news site. They don't need compex explanations about how Google works any more than they need complex explanations of how the news programs they watch on TV are put together and produced. They're only interested in the final product, and rightly so. If the results aren't good enough because of press releases or whatever else, people will srop using it.