A patent for systems and methods for improving the ranking of news articles was granted to Google yesterday.

It was originally filed in 2003. The patent appears to provide a look at some of the factors Google may take into consideration when ranking articles for Google News. As Bill Slawski of SEO By the SEA points out, it is most likely missing a significant amount of elements that Google takes into consideration today, and some of the ones mentioned may have changed. It is after all, six years later.