Bigger Fish To Fry ...

Google News has found an even bigger fish to fry than United Airlines ... Microsoft.

Do you think it is coincidence that a story about IE8 has Google Chrome's logo next to it?

The issue with Google's bots severely hurting the stock price of United Airlines is actually a much bigger story for our industry than many people want to admit ... or maybe it's just that this isn't the kind of story that can get you on to TechMeme.

From my perspective, one of Google News' biggest issues has always been the lead source they put forward to the public on major breaking news. As an employee of PR Newswire I tend to see a lot of news before anyone else ... web indexers included. But how all press releases aren't the lead on Google News when a release is issued is beyond me. The first story released should always be the first one indexed on this particular site. While I understand the need and value of the reaction to the news, credible and authentic sources will become even more important in this changing media landscape.

Yes, a press release isn't exactly a story, but it is an official and authorized company statement. Additionally, many times Google News indexes a release from the wire but picked up (not covered) verbatim by a downstream partner (like Marketwatch, Reuters, AP, DJ, etc.).

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