Google lets names in the news talk back

Google Inc. is giving the subjects of news stories a way to comment on articles written about them.

The online search leader launched an experimental feature this week on its Google News site in the U.S. that allows any person mentioned in a news story that’s linked on that site to submit a written response.

A Google employee must verify the authenticity of the e-mail. Methods include independently tracking down the subject’s contact information and calling that person directly, and checking the author’s e-mail address and phone number against information on a company or organization website.

If the author’s identity is confirmed, the response is posted on the same page as the search results for the story.

Google pointed to several examples on the site Wednesday, including one from a professor at UC San Francisco commenting on a new HIV treatment.

The feature is intended to help Google’s news site evolve from being solely an aggregator of news articles to a forum where news subjects – and even the journalists who wrote the stories – can respond publicly to criticisms. The company emphasized that the feature was in the testing phase but could expand to other regions and languages.