Leaked Google documents have given us an unprecedented insight into Google Search, revealing around 14,000 potential ranking factors and features. This leak is invaluable, especially for SEOs, as they can now better understand the search algorithm and optimize websites accordingly. The leak consists of documentation that apparently originates from Google's internal Content API Warehouse and was accidentally published by an automated bot. This happened back in March of this year. However, the valuable information was not circulated until the end of May.
Key Findings from the Leaked Google Documents
When considering the following information, it should be noted that it represents the state of affairs as of March 2024 and may have changed since then. Additionally, it is unclear how the individual ranking factors are weighted. We have listed what we believe are the most important findings below:
- Homepage trust plays a major role in ranking
- Content freshness is important
- Link diversity and relevance are crucial
- New links seem to outperform existing ones
- A feature called titlematchScore measures how well page titles and search queries match
- The pageQuality feature estimates the "effort" of article pages to determine if they are easy to replicate
- Images, videos, and unique information can have a positive impact on the "effort" calculation
- Originality is especially important for short content: OriginalContentScore determines if it is thin content
- Low-quality content on subpages can affect the ranking of the entire website
- Google counts the number of tokens in documents: There may be an upper limit, after which content is truncated, or cut off. Important content should therefore be placed as high up in the text as possible.
- The first paragraphs under headings should answer the search query briefly and precisely
- Google checks authorship: Authors who focus on a specific field and write multiple publications are more relevant
The points mentioned above are primarily helpful for further optimizing content. However, the leak also contains many technical details, some of which we present below:
- Google stores a copy of every version of every page that has been indexed → this means Google can "remember" every change ever made to a page
- Google can determine how many results per content type (blog posts, news articles, etc.) are displayed on the SERPs
- A feature called Navboost (click-related metrics for search) is used to promote or demote results. A distinction is made between badClicks, goodClicks, lastLongestClicks, and unsquashedClicks
- Google uses a siteAuthority to evaluate the authority of websites on specific topics
- There are at least 7 different types of PageRank to determine a page's link popularity
- If subpages do not yet have their own PageRank, it is based on the PageRank of the homepage
- siteFocusScore, siteRadius, siteEmbeddings, and pageEmbeddings are used for ranking
- Poor site navigation harms the ranking
Leak Reveals Reasons for Content Demotion
The leaked documents also listed which criteria can lead to a demotion of content. These include the following, among others:
- Link does not match the destination page
- Specific user behavior that indicates dissatisfaction
- Poor navigation & user experience
- Exact Match Domains
- Negative Product Reviews
- Demotion of global websites → Possibly advantages for local websites in the respective region
- Pornography
Impact and Consequences of the Leaked Information
Google lied! This is the accusation many are now leveling at the global corporation, as some of the leaked information contradicts Google's official statements. For example, it was claimed that clicks are not a ranking factor. However, it has long been an open secret that user behavior influences rankings. It should also be understood, however, that Google deliberately withheld many of the leaked details to prevent manipulation of the rankings. While some SEOs have lost trust in Google, others see it positively. After all, we now know many more ranking factors that we can use to push our content even further up in the SERPs.
FAQ
When was Google founded?
The company was founded on September 4, 1998, by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The search engine went online in the same year.
How often does Google change its algorithm?
Google changes its search algorithm several hundred times a year. These are usually small updates that have only a minor impact on the search results.
When was the Google algorithm leaked?
Confidential Google documents have been leaked from time to time in recent years. One of the biggest leaks occurred in March 2024, when an automated bot published around 14,000 ranking factors and features.
