Using experiments with COVID-19 related queries, Cornell sociology and information science researchers found that in a public health emergency, most people pick out and click on accurate information.
Although higher-ranked results are clicked more often, they are not more trusted, and misinformation does not damage trust in accurate results that appear on the same page. In fact, banners warning about misinformation decrease trust in misinformation somewhat but decrease trust in accurate information even more, according to “Misinformation Does Not Reduce Trust in Accurate Search Results, But Warning Banners May Backfire” published in Scientific Reports on May 14.