Inside Google's Algorithm: Key Takeaways from the Latest Leak

Imagine getting a sneak peek into Google’s playbook—a complete breakdown of what it takes to rank online organically.

Well, that’s exactly what just happened.

Thousands of internal documents have been leaked online, shedding light on what truly influences Google’s algorithm.

Here, we'll be breaking down everything we know alongside the main takeaways you should know to help build a better website for your community.

Let's get started.

What Happened?

On March 13, thousands of documents from Google’s internal Content API Warehouse were released on GitHub, a popular software development platform.

These files, shared with Rand Fishkin, co-founder of SparkToro, provide exclusive insights into Google's ranking criteria.

Why Should PMCs Care?

What does this mean for you and your community?

Less guesswork and more time spent building web pages set up for organic success.

The information shared will help you feel empowered to make informed decisions on how to set up your website to get the most traffic possible.

Here's a breakdown of what we know about these internal documents so far:

👉Validity: The documents suggest that the information is current as of March.

👉Ranking Factors: The API documentation includes 2,596 modules, with 14,014 attributes.

👉Weighting: The documents did not reveal how Google weighs the ranking features.

👉Twiddlers: These are re-ranking functions that adjust or change a document's retrieval score.

👉Demotions: Factors leading to content losing rank, which can include:

• Poor linking practices
• User dissatisfaction based on SERP signals
• Exact match domains
• Negative product reviews

👉Change History: Google keeps a copy of every indexed page version but only uses the last 20 changes when analyzing links.

Google Search Document Leak: 5 Key Takeaways You Should Know

The leaked documents provide valuable insights that can reshape your SEO approach.

Here are the five key takeaways you should focus on.

Links Matter

The documents highlight that link diversity and relevance remain essential components of Google's ranking algorithm.

PageRank is still actively used, with the PageRank of a website's homepage influencing the ranking of every page within the site.

Successful Clicks Matter

Documents and testimony from the U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial have confirmed that Google uses clicks as a factor in ranking.

The newly released documents provide detail into the various click categories Google considers, such as badClicks, goodClicks, lastLongestClicks, and unsquashedClicks.

Branding Matters

Rand Fishkin, co-founder of SparkToro, emphasized the importance of building a strong brand:

“If there was one universal piece of advice I had for marketers seeking to broadly improve their organic search rankings and traffic, it would be: ‘Build a notable, popular, well-recognized brand in your space, outside of Google search.'”

Site Authority Matters

Despite Google's denials over the years of having a website authority score, the disclosed documents reveal that Google does use a metric called "siteAuthority" as a ranking factor.

Google Considers Chrome Data

A module named ChromeInTotal indicates that Google utilizes data from its Chrome browser.

This means that user interactions and behavior on Chrome can directly influence a website’s rank.

Google’s Response to the Leak

A spokesperson from Search Engine Land connected with Google on the recent data leak, noting their response.

Google stated that many of the assumptions being made are based on incomplete and out-of-context information.

They emphasized that while search ranking signals are constantly evolving, the core principles of Google's ranking system remain unchanged.

Their official statement reads:

“We would caution against making inaccurate assumptions about Search based on out-of-context, outdated, or incomplete information. We’ve shared extensive information about how Search works and the types of factors that our systems weigh, while also working to protect the integrity of our results from manipulation.”