Slopwatch: Google News Has Lost the Plot

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 31, 2025

The frequency or the prominence of LLM slop seems to have grown in Google News. The slop is drowning out the signal. It's really bad. We'll come to that in a moment.

So Google News links to Linux Journal, which based on the structure alone gives away its misuse of bots:

Pure nonsense. Same as LinuxSecurity with LLM slop, i.e. the usual:

Bland headline and pointless text. The wrong output of a lazy "prompt engineer"?

Then there's this relatively new slopfarm in Google News:

It's slop, as usual:

Google News is also promoting FUD.

Consider this latest misdirection. Now a pair of slopfarms run by the same people and containing only slop images are propped up by Google News:

Fake articles about what's really (originally) a Windows issue.

Also boosted by Google News today... at least 4 fake articles about "Linux". This is all from a slopfarm containing slop images and fake author names:

So basically it has been a bad day in Google News. Almost the majority of articles returned for "Linux" are fakes. █

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 29/04/2026: "Snowden Affair 13 Years Later" and "Landmark Data Center Pause": Links for the day
IBM is Already Doing 'Voluntary' Layoffs This Year in Europe ('Buyouts' Ahead of Mass Layoffs): IBM's efforts to hide or belittle layoffs is noteworthy
Like GAFAM, US Telecom Industry Has Severe Debt Problem: Maybe their real problem is true profitability
Latest Example of False Marketing by Anthropic: Like Scam Altman, they're better at buying publicity (paying for hype) than they are at delivering something of genuine value [...] That has the full make-up of fake news and a publicity stunt
IBM: From RAs to "Workforce Re-balancing" (New Names for Mass Layoffs): Well, "workforce re-balancing" means "RAs", which is a misleading acronym IBM has devised to soften if not hide mass layoffs.
Microsoft's Grip Has Slipped, Market Share Steadily Declining: This is why Microsoft is having financial issue
Slop Has a Long Way to Go Before It Gets Basic Facts Right: Please do not rely on slop for anything
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part IX - European Patents That Are Illegal (But Serve Non-European Monopolists in Exchange for 'Quick Cash'): People who shamelessly violate the European Patent Convention (EPC) have the audacity to lecture workers on "ethics"
Canonical is Selling You, Ubuntu is a Data-Collecting Platform: Canonical is looking for money in the wrong places
Seems Like Only Techrights Covered IBM Laying Off About 33% of Confluent Staff: How can such a large round of layoffs evade today's media?
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 28, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Gemini Links 29/04/2026: Bad Diet, New Middle Ages, and Temperature Model: Links for the day
Tracing Back the Misuse of the Word "Buyout" to Describe Merciless Mass Layoffs: So we can assume very large Microsoft layoffs are on the way, this time not spun as "buyouts"
Growing the List of Sites That Are Rogue: It's very important to raise and spread awareness of which ones are fake
Links 28/04/2026: Uganda Criminalising ‘Foreign Agents’ and China’s Economy "Starts to Show Cracks": Links for the day
Anthropic and Claude Are National Security Risks Not Because of Politics But False Marketing and Vandalism, Plagiarism Sold as Innovation: The slop hype is causing severe damage
Gemini Links 28/04/2026: Misfin, ELPiS, and Developing Another Gemini Client: Links for the day
US Government Sites See More Traffic From Apple Devices Than Microsoft Windows PCs: Keep this in mind when Microsoft talks about mass layoffs while calling these "buyouts"
Layoffs Versus Buyouts: Microsoft has mass layoffs and those target the most experienced people in one of the best-paid locations
Aaron Hillel Swartz Would Have Turned 40 This Year: Aaron Swartz killed himself in 2013
The Trumps Are Making Jimmy Kimmel More Famous and Popular: Comedy has long been "controversial", but trying to get people sacked for the 'wrong' joke results in having no comedians or only pseudo-comedians who are the dictator's jester/joker
Links 28/04/2026: Microsoft's GitHub Upselling After Two Leaders Jumped Ship (Losses Pile Up), "Inflation Jumps," and More: Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 60 Out of 200: Talking About Corruption at Microsoft and Arrest for Strangulation is "Malice": At the moment Brett Wilson LLP has no new clients
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VIII - "Red Line" When the European Patent Office (EPO) President Sleeps With Sister of "Cocaine Communication Manager" (Whom He Unconditionally Protects): If only management took its own words (idealistic pontification) seriously
IBM Laying Off Thousands of Workers Again, Based on Q1 Earnings Call: under the guise of "workforce rebalancing" we are again seeing that IBM plans to pay people (severance) to leave
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 27, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, April 27, 2026
Gemini Links 28/04/2026: Good Sunrise Viewing and Self-hosting from Home: Links for the day[1;5C
Microsoft Insiders: If You Don't Take the Lousy Severance-Like Offer, They'll PIP You Out (Microsoft Signals to People Over 40 That They'd Better Vacate the Place): Microsoft targets its most experienced (read: expensive) workers
"AI" 16 Times in One 'Article'. The Register MS Got Paid to Post This Spammy, Promotional Piece of Slop.: Pay closer attention to who pays and who gets paid
Links 27/04/2026: Chernobyl Disaster at 40, "Heartbreaking" Decline of Australia: Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/04/2026: Gopher Catchup, MNT Reform, and Injuries: Links for the day
Red Hat Circling Down the Slop Drain: IBM, governed by slop fanatics, is going to do a lot of damage
Slop is an Addiction, Its Users Find It Addictive: please do not tolerate people who slop
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VII - Secrecy at the EPO (Regarding Cocaine and Nepotism) Has Undermined Trust in Management: If Europe's second-largest institution is run by the "Alicante Mafia", does this mean that other key European institutions are "Mafia"?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 59 Out of 200: Mentioning the Fact Alex Graveley Arrested and Charged for Strangulation in Texas is "Reckless" and "Malicious", According to His 'Hired Guns' in London: it was framed as "malicious"
Links 27/04/2026: Strikes, Corruption in Spain (Spanish PM Sanchez' Wife), and YouTuber Faces Jail Time: Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/04/2026: Gopher Catch-up, Year of Contentment, and Path to Freedom: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 26, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, April 26, 2026