01-02-2024
Google's search algorithm plays a critical role in digital marketing and SEO. A recent leak has revealed some details of this algorithm. This leak consists of more than 2,500 internal documents that expose the inner workings of Google's search ranking mechanisms. These documents highlight important factors affecting Google's search rankings and contain many details contrary to what Google has publicly disclosed.
Key Findings from the Leak
Impact of Click Data
The leaked documents reveal that Google uses click data as a significant signal in search rankings. This data includes various metrics showing how users interact with search results. Here are some of these metrics and their meanings:
NavBoost System:
• NavBoost is Google's system for adjusting rankings using click data. Operating since 2005, this system analyzes which results users click on and how these clicks affect rankings. NavBoost moves more frequently clicked results to higher positions, ensuring continuous improvement of user experience. The leak provides more information about how NavBoost collects and processes click data, illuminating the system's operation. The leaked documents include information about performance indicators used to measure NavBoost's effectiveness. For example, metrics such as user satisfaction, time spent on page, and return visit rates are used to evaluate NavBoost's success.
GoodClicks and BadClicks:
• "GoodClicks" and "BadClicks" measure users' positive or negative experiences with search results. For example, if a user clicks a search result and immediately returns, this might be evaluated as a "BadClick." Conversely, if a user stays on the clicked page for a long time, this is evaluated as a "GoodClick." GoodClicks indicate that the search engine is successfully providing users with the most relevant results. The leak details how this data is collected and used in the ranking algorithm.
LongClicks and ShortClicks:
• "LongClicks" and "ShortClicks" refer to the time spent on a page after clicking. Long-duration clicks (LongClicks) indicate that users find the content useful and stay on the page longer. Short-duration clicks (ShortClicks) might indicate that the page didn't meet expectations or that the user experience was poor.
Site Authority and Content Quality
Site authority and content quality, crucial parts of Google's search ranking algorithm, are detailed extensively in the leaked documents. Google uses various metrics to evaluate websites' overall authority and content quality. These metrics help determine the site's general reliability and how useful its content is for users.
Site Authority
Site authority is a metric that determines a site's overall reliability and quality. Google uses various signals to evaluate site authority:
• Domain Authority (DA): The site's overall domain authority is measured through backlinks earned over years and reliability score.
• Subdomain and Subdirectory Impact: Google evaluates how subdomains and subdirectories impact the main domain. Whether subdomains are evaluated separately or together with the main domain depends on the site's structure and content.
Content Quality
Google uses various metrics to evaluate content quality:
• Originality Score: Short content is given an originality score to evaluate how unique it is. This score ranges from 0-512, with higher scores indicating original and useful content.
• User Engagement Metrics: How users interact with content is an important factor in determining content quality. Metrics such as time spent on page, click-through rates, and bounce rates indicate how valuable the content is for users. Google Wants Fresh and New Content
• Google prefers new content, especially for rapidly evolving topics.
• The algorithm also monitors historical data, meaning consistent improvements in content can increase rankings over time.
Freshness and Relevance
Freshness and relevance play important roles in Google's search rankings. The leaked documents explain in detail how Google evaluates these factors and how they affect rankings. These factors are measured using various metrics and algorithms to provide users with the most relevant and current information.
Freshness
Freshness determines how new or current content is. Google uses various date indicators to evaluate content freshness:
• Byline Date: Shows when content was published or last updated. This date appears at the beginning or end of an article and is an important indicator for users to understand if content is current.
• Syntactic Date: Date information in the URL. For example, having a date like 2023-06-01 in a blog post's URL helps Google evaluate the content's freshness.
• Semantic Date: Date information within page content. These are dates mentioned in the content's text, and Google scans this information to determine content freshness.
Relevance
Relevance determines how appropriate content is for a user's search query. Google uses various methods to evaluate content relevance:
• Vectorization: Google vectorizes pages and sites to determine the core topic of content. These vectors show how well content aligns with keywords and how it matches the site's overall theme. For example, this method determines whether articles on a health site align with health-related keywords.
• SiteRadius and SiteFocusScore: Google uses siteRadius and siteFocusScore metrics to measure how well a page aligns with the site's overall topic. These metrics evaluate the page's and site's relevance to their general topic.
Brand and Entity Importance
The leaked documents clearly show how important brands and entities are in Google's search rankings. These factors are used to ensure users interact with brands they trust and recognize. Google uses various metrics to evaluate the reliability and authority of brands and content providers.
Brand Importance
Brand is an important factor that helps users gravitate toward trusted and familiar names in search results. Google uses these metrics to increase brand recognition and reliability:
• Brand Recognition: Users' recognition and trust of a brand helps it rank higher in search results. For example, Amazon ranks high in e-commerce searches because users trust and recognize this brand.
• Brand Engagement: How users interact with a brand affects its ranking. Positive interactions with the brand on social media, blogs, and other platforms elevate the brand's search rankings.
Entity Importance
Google uses various metrics to evaluate the reliability and authority of content providers and authors:
• Authorship Information: Google stores author information to identify content authors and uses this information to evaluate content quality. For example, an article written by a medical expert may have higher authority and thus rank higher.
• Entity Recognition: Google uses entity recognition technologies to determine which entities content is associated with. This shows how relevant and authoritative content is to a specific topic or industry. For example, having a recognized economics expert as the author of a finance article increases the content's authority.
Use of Chrome Data
The use of data from Chrome browser in Google's search rankings is another important factor revealed in the leaked documents. This data is used to understand how users behave in the browser and interact with search results. Google collects and uses this data in various ways to optimize search rankings.
Collection and Use of Chrome Data
Google influences search rankings by collecting user data through Chrome browser:
• User Behavior: Google monitors how users behave in Chrome browser. This includes information about which sites users visit, how long they stay, and which pages they frequently visit. This data is used to understand users' interests and search habits.
• Click and Navigation Data: Google tracks which pages users click from search results and how long they spend on these pages. This data is used to determine which content is more attractive and useful for users. For example, users spending a long time on a particular page indicates that the content is quality and valuable for the user.
Impact of Chrome Data on SEO
The impact of Chrome data on SEO involves developing strategies to improve user experience:
• Page Load Speed: Google considers page load speed as an important ranking factor. Chrome data shows which pages load quickly and how users interact with these pages. Fast-loading pages improve user experience and rank higher in search results.
• Mobile Compatibility: Chrome data helps determine how users behave on mobile devices and which pages are mobile-friendly. Mobile-compatible pages perform better on mobile devices, providing an advantage in search rankings. The leaked documents show how Google evaluates freshness and relevance factors and how these impact search rankings. When developing SEO strategies, maintaining content freshness and providing the most relevant results for users' search queries provides a significant advantage. Producing fresh and relevant content improves user experience and helps you rise in rankings.
