Last month, there was a significant buzz among those involved with Google Search (which includes almost the entire modern internet and all its developers). "Erfan Azimi," the owner of an SEO firm, suddenly began sharing leaked documents revealing how Google's ranking system works. It's more complicated than just the search itself; it involves various APIs around it. Nonetheless, these APIs reveal a lot. The leak happened when a Google developer wrote a program to convert API calls into his preferred programming language but accidentally published everything (if you're interested, I've included a link to the commit with all these descriptions [1]).

Multiple confirmations from reputable sources, including former and current Googlers, have verified the authenticity of this leak. It's not a hoax or a joke but a genuine breach of information that has piqued the interest of all SEO researchers. Here's a reliable summary of the findings:

– Google has allowlists of manually optimized sites, at least for certain topics, such as the 2020 elections or COVID-19.

– Domain names and subdomains are significant factors (despite Google's previous claims).

– There's a sandbox for new sites, which Google has always denied.

– Google directly uses data from EWOK (a system where paid users rate the quality of search results).

– User behavior on sites is actively used for ranking.

– Click data is collected not only from Google Analytics but also directly from the Chrome browser.

– Sites are categorized based on click volume, affecting their quality ranking and PageRank contribution.

– Google considers the overall brand size, including mentions across the internet, not just links.

– Content and links are secondary to clicks and site navigation behavior.

– SEO is almost irrelevant for most small companies and sites without a brand, user base, and reputation.

This is a monumental event in the world of Google Search, marking the most significant leak in the past 10-15 years. It suggests a potential discrepancy between Google's public statements and its actual search practices [3]. The strategy has shifted towards clickbait and bot farms, challenging the long-standing belief that 'content is king.' Unsurprisingly, Google has chosen to remain silent [4]. I recommend reading this article on iPullRank [5] for a more comprehensive understanding.

If you want to stop giving all your data to Google, consider using a non-chrome browser like Firefox.

[1] https://github.com/googleapis/elixir-google-api/commit/078b4...

[2] https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousa...

[3] https://www.seroundtable.com/google-chrome-search-usage-1561...

[4] https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/28/24166177/google-search-ra...

[5] https://ipullrank.com/google-algo-leak