What’s up with Google News? The CBS report has been all the buzz in the MSM and in the blogosphere since it broke a little after 10am today. But as of 7pm EST, there is no link to any coverage of the report on the Google News home page. And there’s not a single link to the CBS story on Google’s Top U.S. news stories. Instead, Google lists these as the top U.S. stories:

Bush welcomes new Palestinian leader
Officials: Nuclear submarine hit undersea object
Bush administration paid columnist to push its agenda
Mississippi smoldering: Decades later, man charged in civil rights killings
Ranchers group suing US Agriculture Department to stop Canadian beef imports
High court ignores gay adoption appeal
California Mudslide Kills at Least One
Bush Taps Indy Business Owner for Advisor Position
Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger Unveils $112 Billion Budget
Bush says US commited to long-term tsunami relief
Bush shares vision with Abbas
Perjury Trial Starts for Tainted Texas Drug Sting
Bush Social Security Effort Stirs Republican Qualms
Mass. Republicans Launch Pre-Emptive Web Strike
Former Schrenko deputy pleads guilty to fraud
Deadly Train Crash in South Carolina
Rough current halts search for man
Two Remain Hospitalized After Huge Explosion
Corporations Divided Over Asbestos Fund
New York City Council, mayor reach deal on rezoning plan

Hello, Google news? Reader William Schultz says: “Looks like a biased news search algorithm in Google News.” Yup. (Roger Simon noticed the Google News omission earlier in the day.)

Update: Okay, Amy Ridenour’s explanation makes sense. Mick Stockinger says algorithms don’t conspire. But Brain Shavings noted Googlebias in the past. And big media websites have shown their liberal bias before (remember this Netscape/CNN.com election prank?)

Reader Rick Stout e-mails:

To my mind it’s their bias in the selection process primarily (not exclusively). Because the pool of news–AP, UPI, REUTERS, New York Times, Washington Post, Other MSM news outlets–Google primarily selects from [is] pro-liberal/[with] Democrat party agenda [and liberal] points of view, naturally by default Google slants left.

I [have] written Google about this for the last 2 1/2 years. They always “write” back and address my complaints with the same robot form letters.

Stout attached the letter from Google:

Thank you for your note. The headlines on the Google News homepage are selected entirely by a computer algorithm, based on many factors including how often and on which sites a story appears elsewhere on the web. This is very much in the tradition of Google’s Web Search, which relies heavily on the collective judgment of web publishers to determine which sites
offer the most valuable and relevant information. Google News relies in a
similar fashion on the editorial judgment of online news organizations
to determine which stories are most deserving of inclusion and prominence
on the Google News page.

We strive to include as many news sources as possible in Google News and appreciate suggestions from our users. If there is a news site you would like to see included in Google News, please send the URL to source-suggestions@google.com. While we can’t guarantee that we will add all sources that are recommended, we will review all the suggestions we receive.

Regards,
The Google Team

Update II: Google is listening, albeit belatedly. Reader Phil Trubey sends an e-mail he just received from Google after inquiring whether Google News was “including or planning to include any of the more serious news oriented blogs in your google news system, e.g., Power Line?”

Google wrote Trubey today:

Thank you again for your submission. We apologize for our delayed response. We have reviewed www.powerlineblog.com and will be including it in Google News in the near future. You should be able to find your articles in Google News within four to six weeks.

Better late than never, I suppose. In any case, Phil’s e-mail suggests that Google News is responsive to readers’ requests to diversify its news sources. Again, that e-mail address to send recommendations is source-suggestions@google.com.

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