More than likely it is Google trying to downplay it, but it's their search being gamed - the BBC article is actually inaccurate as far as I'm aware, as at least

More than likely it is Google trying to downplay it, but it's their search being gamed - the BBC article is actually inaccurate as far as I'm aware, as at least in the case of Sam Hyde, I was under the impression he was in on the joke, though I may be wrong. Regardless, the length of time probably isn't as important as the frequency with which this occurs, as the search frequently returning verifiably wrong or fake information is probably a bigger issue. The length of time it lasts is just a symptom of the tool providing news without the news being curated.