Google has implemented some ranking updates to Search and made changes to its search rater guidelines that will allow the algorithm to discover original reporting better. The search giant wants to feature original reports in search results more prominently and ensure that it stays visible longer.

Google Search's latest updates to the ranking system will ensure original reporting stays in the search results longer.

For now, whenever a small publication breaks a story, it’s eventually carried by bigger publications that have better SEO ranking and tools at their disposal. The original outlet that published the story first gets buried in the search results by bigger players who dominate in the ranking. Google has introduced changes to its ranking algorithm to ensure such stories are visible in the search results for longer along with the latest stories around the topic from other outlets. This move will surely favour news outlets that go out of the way to break exclusive and important stories. It will also inspire more outlets to invest more time and effort to report such stories.

Google announced in a blog post that it has made changes to its rater guidelines for about 10,000 raters that rate the quality of the search results. The company evaluates search results with the help of third-party raters spread across the world who follow the Search Rater guidelines. It explains what kind of content Google values.

Apart from favouring original reporting, raters have been instructed to take into account a publisher’s “overall reputation” for reporting. This includes publications that have won journalistic awards, prestigious awards like the Pulitzer Prize or a publication that has a “history of high-quality original reporting.”

Google is gathering feedback on this newly deployed update that will push the search engine to surface original content. Although there’s no specific definition to the original content or how an original article will be favoured in the search results, the company will ensure, as usual, that no one is able to game the ranking system for too long by continuously introducing relevant changes.