Google data leak reveals the ins and outs of search rankings

A document called API Content Warehouse has been leaked in Google's search engine. This important document contained links to internal pages and private Google repositories. The voluminous document Google API (2500 pages) describes in detail the features and mechanisms of the search engine. The information obtained allowed SEO-specialists to learn a lot of interesting things.

The document contains data that the popular system uses about 14000 functions when ranking sites. Google pays special attention to the use of clicks, as well as behavioral factors. SEO-specialists claim that clicks are of great importance, and links and content are now in second place.

Basic ranking algorithms

The data leak of an important document and some other factors have shown the peculiarities of ranking algorithms. As a result, the public statements of Google representatives raise a lot of doubts. It is necessary to pay attention to the key aspects that do not correspond to the company's statements about ranking methods.

• 

Chrome browser data

After the leak, it can be concluded that the company collects information about user behavior. The data obtained is used to evaluate website pages, domain resources. Through behavioral factors, Google can determine the most popular URL pages.

Features of user behavior

NavBoost is an important component of ranking. It is NavBoost that analyzes user clicks and takes into account several important factors. These are duration of clicks, “bad clicks” and more. Based on the results of the analysis, the search engine understands what users like and which pages of the site should be promoted.

NavBoost pays attention to the factor of Pogo-sticking, or quickly navigating to search results. Users who don't find answers to their queries quickly return to the search. NavBoost also takes into account the length of time the visitor stays on the page. Such a parameter will help in determining the relevance and usefulness of a particular page.

Whitelisting sites

Google has whitelists dedicated to specific topics (e.g., travel). The company controls search results for problematic queries and counter-versions. Users will only see verified sources of information in their searches.

“Sandbox.”

Representatives of the company said that there is no “sandbox” and special restrictions for new resources. In the leak, experts found information about hostAge, which the search engine applies to “sandbox new spam”. The search engine uses the “sandbox” method for suspicious and new resources.

Domain authority

Google claimed that they do not apply Domain Authority in their algorithms. After the leaked document, it was revealed that the Q* system uses the siteAuthority metric. With the help of this multi-functional metric, the search engine determines the authority of a particular site.

Brand size

It is known that popular brands often occupy the first positions in ranking. To rank and identify the company, Google uses a variety of ways. The size of the brand is taken into account both by the official website and by the number of mentions of the company on the Internet.

EWOK data

The EWOK platform allows you to evaluate the quality of information search. Real users search for information, as a result of which their behavior is evaluated according to a number of criteria. The usefulness of the source and its relevance are necessarily taken into account. Google's internal platform can directly influence the peculiarities of page ranking.

Additional nuances:

• associating date with content. BylineDate is used to associate date and content. Additionally, Google uses semanticDate as well as syntacticDate (extracted from the title);
• Font Size. The average font size of terms in links and documents is of particular importance when ranking sites;
• use of keywords and original content. Search engine evaluates the originality of content, which is taken into account in ranking. Website positions improve when page titles are relevant to user queries;
• Google skips small sites in the rendition. “Small personal sites” is one of the special flags of the popular search engine. In some cases, Google increases the ranking of sites, but more often resources are lowered in the output;
• PageRank for all pages of the site. PageRank is necessarily displayed on the home page. PageRank of this page is taken into account for the rest of the pages until each of them gets a ranking system;
• the value of links depends on the level of indexing. The sourceType metric will help determine the relationship between the value of a particular page and where it is indexed. Google's index uses tiers according to which important and constantly updated content is stored in flash. For less valuable content, solid state drives are suitable. Standard hard disks store information that is not regularly updated. “Fresh” website pages are of higher quality compared to their older counterparts. Good ranking indicators are often received by news pages, as well as highly rated resources.

Lowering positions in ranking algorithms

Certain factors contribute to the lowering of page positions or demotion. Quality and relevance are strongly affected by negative factors. The latest data leak confirms that Google uses different algorithmic mechanisms to demote pages. The most popular mechanisms are:

1. SERP Demotion - determines the potential dissatisfaction of visitors with a particular page.
2. Anchor Mismatch - a mechanism that indicates the inconsistency of the link to the target site. In this case, the resource will be lowered in ranking.
3. Porn Demotion - demonstration of pornography lowers positions.
4. Nav Demotion - the tool works with pages characterized by poor user experience or inconvenient navigation.
5. Product Review Demotion - a mechanism without specific information. The tool probably works given the recent update targeting product reviews.
6. Other link demotions - deterioration of page positions due to links.
7. Location Demotion - experts claim that “global” pages of a website can worsen their positions. Google starts associating web pages with location, and after that the ranking process is carried out.

The Google system ranks websites according to certain mechanisms. This should be taken into account by the professionals who are involved in page promotion. The leaked document shows the peculiarities and different ranking mechanisms of websites.

We have prepared useful recommendations for organic traffic growth in this article.