• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, February 23, 2024

As if they didn’t have enough to worry about, publishers were rattled this week when Google removed its news filter from some search results in an apparent experiment. 

A Google spokesperson told media outlets, “We’re testing different ways to show filters on Search and as a result, a small subset of users were temporarily unable to access some of them.” 

On Friday, Google clarified that ““The News filter is available to users now and we do not have plans to remove it.” 

Nonetheless, the “test” upset users: At the least, loss of the news filter would reduce traffic for news publishers. 

 “When users look for news, the News tab of Search filters search results,” Google says on its site. “Users get content related to events in the news. For broader context, the News tab displays more articles than a regular search query.”

That wasn’t the only Google-related news that scared people this week. In another episode, a bizarre report spread that Google is closing Gmail this year. 

The source is a fake email that some observers called a blatant satire or hoax. But many readers failed to get the joke; one said, “I hate this company.” 

The fake email says, “As of August 1, 2024, Gmail is being sunsetted, marking the end of its service. This means that as of this date, Gmail will no longer support sending, receiving or storing emails.” 

The report makes no sense, given that Gmail is the biggest email service.  

For its part, Gmail said on X, “Gmail is here to stay.”