Exclusive: Yahoo buys The Factual to add news credibility ratings – Axios

Yahoo has acquired The Factual, a company that uses algorithms to rate the credibility of news sources, Yahoo president and general manager Matt Sanchez told Axios.

Why it matters: The deal could provide Yahoo News' 200 million+ monthly visitors with ratings for the thousands of news sources Yahoo aggregates on its site.

Details: With the transaction, which closed last month, The Factual's eight employees, including its founders, have joined Yahoo News full time.

Be smart: While Yahoo has a set of its own criteria it applies when it adds syndication partners across all Yahoo properties, Sanchez said labels will help the readers "make their own informed decisions about what they're reading," which will add trust over time.

How it works: Launched in 2019, The Factual uses artificial intelligence to rank articles based on four criteria: site quality, author expertise, article tone (level of opinion) and quality of sources.

What's next: For now, Yahoo's plan is to integrate The Factual's rating system within Yahoo News articles, not other Yahoo properties like Yahoo Finance or Yahoo Sports.

The big picture: The deal marks Yahoo's first acquisition since Apollo Global Management bought it and AOL for $5 billion from Verizon in 2021.

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Exclusive: Yahoo buys The Factual to add news credibility ratings - Axios