Recently, a significant leak of Google’s internal search ranking documents has revealed extensive details about their algorithms and practices, causing a stir in the SEO community. The leak comprises around 2,596 modules with 14,014 attributes related to Google's various services, including YouTube, Assistant, and web documents.
Key Revelations:
Use of Click Data: Contrary to Google's previous public statements, the documents confirm that click data plays a significant role in ranking. The NavBoost system, which adjusts rankings based on click behavior, has been used since 2005.
Site Authority: The documents detail a "siteAuthority" metric, indicating that Google does consider site-wide authority in its ranking algorithm, despite denying it publicly.
Content and Links: The leak highlights the importance of link diversity, relevance, and freshness. New links from recently updated pages are valued more highly than older links. Additionally, short, original content can rank well under certain scoring systems.
Data Storage and Indexing: Google's indexing system is highly sophisticated, utilizing various storage mechanisms like flash drives for frequently updated content. The indexer names such as Alexandria and TeraGoogle are part of this extensive system.
Demotions and Penalties: Several factors can lead to content demotion, including irrelevant links, user dissatisfaction signals, and exact match domains. There are also mechanisms for dealing with new sites to prevent spam.
This leak offers unprecedented insight into Google’s secretive algorithms, challenging many of the company’s previous public statements about their search ranking practices. For more detailed information, you can refer to the original articles on Search Engine Land and WinBuzzer.
Sources:
Search Engine Land
WinBuzzer