from Hacker News

Google confirms the leaked Search documents are real

by alanzhuly on 5/29/24, 10:50 PM with 75 comments

  • by nojvek on 5/30/24, 9:16 PM

    KEY TAKEAWAYS:

    • Google claimed they don't use a "domain authority" metric, but the docs show they totally do - it's called "siteAuthority."

    • G said clicks don't affect rankings, but there's a whole system called "NavBoost" that uses click data to change search results.

    • Google denied having a "sandbox" that holds back new sites, but yep, the docs confirm it exists.

    • G assured us Chrome data isn't used for ranking, but surprise! It is.

    • The number and diversity of your backlinks still matter a lot.

    • Having authors with expertise and authority helps.

    • Putting keywords in your title tag and matching search queries is important.

    • Google tracks the dates on your pages to determine freshness.

    • A lot of long-held SEO theories have been validated, so trust your instincts.

    • Creating great content and promoting it well is still the best approach.

    • We should experiment more to see what works, rather than just listening to what Google says.

    From: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/s/ChlTrhjPnG

    I wonder how chrome data works. Are they using every chrome browser to sniff what users are clicking on?

  • by jeroenhd on 5/30/24, 5:32 AM

    I was afraid of this. Now, it's a matter of time before Google search will get even worse as SEO hustlers push more of their useless crap to the top now that internal algorithm data has been published.

    Guess I should look into that Kagi thing people keep mentioning.

  • by blueflow on 5/30/24, 8:12 AM

    10 years ago "chrome botnet" was a meme. And now we get the evidence for it.

    I don't know what to say.

  • by nioj on 5/30/24, 12:16 AM

  • by janmo on 5/30/24, 9:28 AM

    The main takeaway is that Google has been lying and gaslighting about their ranking factors.

    The main lies that were uncovered is that they are indeed using clicks, and chrome browser data for ranking purposes.

    Summary of their lies here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1d2gllz/google_caught_...

  • by Awtem on 5/30/24, 3:58 PM

    Good encryption should still hold, even if you know the algorithm. The same reasoning should be applied to search engines.

  • by Dxtros on 5/30/24, 5:07 PM

    to get real answers from humans and not marketing campaigns I constantly put reddit in my search. I feel like 5 years ago that wasn’t necessary.

  • by jongjong on 5/30/24, 5:12 AM

    Google should change their algorithm to rank websites randomly; they all show up in search results with equal probability, so long as they exceed a certain threshold of relevance for the user's keywords (the threshold could vary for different keywords but would be made public and there could be instructions on how to meet the threshold requirements so it doesn't have to be a secret and anyone should be able to get their sites showing for at least one set of specific keywords). That would make it impossible to game. Maybe they could have 5 slots in a side container for 'Top trending' for those keywords for the current day, week, month or year (the user can choose the granularity). Problem solved.

  • by rexreed on 5/30/24, 11:39 AM

    In not too many years, the average user will be prompting to get their needs met, rather than searching a flawed search system, wading through pages of sponsored and SEO-gamified links, opening up multiple tabs to try to dig out the details from sites hustling whatever they hustle, and then trying to read to get their needs met. Google sees the writing on the wall, which is going towards a prompt-based direct ask system mediated by an LLM. It definitely is far from perfect now, but the writing is on the wall. Search and SEO are both going to be relics of a bygone past in not too many years.

  • by beeboobaa3 on 5/30/24, 8:44 AM

    Any good summaries about what was revealed in the leak?

  • by flembat on 5/31/24, 5:11 AM

    Its getting harder and harder to like Google, not only are they NOT not evil, they are also not even competent.

  • by Fer24 on 6/5/24, 12:33 AM

    Well, another reason to take whit caution what Google says