San Francisco, California – A recent leak has revealed a trove of documents that shed light on how Google ranks search results. The leaked documentation, mistakenly published by an automated system, offers a rare peek into the inner workings of Google Search.
The leaked material, mistakenly committed to a publicly accessible Google repository on GitHub, was brought to light by CEO Erfan Azimi of SEO firm EA Digital Eagle. Azimi shared the discovery with fellow SEO experts Rand Fishkin, CEO of SparkToro, and Michael King, CEO of iPullRank.
While the leaked documents do not contain code, they do provide insights into Google’s Content Warehouse API, intended for internal use only. The documentation includes references to internal systems and projects, offering valuable information on aspects Google considers essential for ranking web pages for relevancy.
The leaked files consist of over 2,500 pages of documentation, detailing more than 14,000 attributes associated with the API. However, it remains unclear how significant these attributes are in Google’s search result ranking algorithm.
SEO consultants have noted discrepancies between the leaked documents and public statements made by Google representatives. These discrepancies include the use of click-centric user signals, treatment of subdomains in rankings, the presence of a domain age factor, and the calculation of a site authority score, contrary to previous denials.
Noteworthy revelations from the leaked documents include the significance of various types of clicks in webpage rankings, the use of Chrome views as a quality signal, and considerations for content freshness, authorship, and page relevance. Despite these insights, Google has not provided any comments on the leak.
Overall, the leaked documents offer a rare glimpse into Google’s ranking criteria, sparking discussions and analyses within the SEO community about the implications of these revelations. As experts dig deeper into the leaked information, the debate around search engine optimization and Google’s ranking algorithms continues to evolve.