Google News

[avram]

I wonder how Google News selects its headlines. For example, look at this chunk of screenshot:

What quirk of software was responsible for choosing a headline from The Hindu, an Indian paper, as the top headline, and relegating the Washington Post and Yahoo to second bananahood? Not that I mind — I like the diversity of sources — I’m just curious.

I suppose The Hindu might have more readers, India being such a populous nation, but in another section a Newsday headline is top and the NY Times headline comes in second, and I doubt Newsday has more readers. More likely it’s based on filing time, or linked-to rankings.

Comments

[avram]

That makes sense.

If this sort of thing becomes popular, it'll probably start affecting how journalists write their stories.