Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) algorithm can now determine when several reliable sources concur on a given fact.
Google said that this MUM update is a component of a larger initiative to raise web-wide information literacy.
“Our systems can check snippet callouts (the word or words called out above the featured snippet in a larger font) against other high-quality sources on the web, to see if there’s a general consensus for that callout, even if sources use different words or concepts to describe the same thing. We’ve found that this consensus-based technique has meaningfully improved the quality and helpfulness of featured snippet callouts.” Pandu Nayak, Google Vice President of Search, said.
Additionally, MUM can assist Google in deciding more precisely when featured snippets are not the best way to answer a query. With this upgrade, Google is 40% less likely to trigger featured snippets in certain scenarios.
According to a Poynter Institute survey funded by Google, 62% of respondents come across inaccurate or misleading information each week which leads Google in making several adjustments to search results to assist users to distinguish between fact and falsehood and verify the accuracy of its featured snippets by comparing them to information from other reliable sources.