It's some of the most closely held proprietary information in the corporate world: "The most consequential system on the internet," according to the tech website The Verge. Google Search and its proprietary algorithm have made the company the most powerful presence on the internet.
And someone just leaked 2,500 documents relating to how Google Search works.
The leaked information outlines "what data Google collects from webpages, sites, and searchers and offers indirect hints to SEO experts about what Google seems to care about," according to The Verge. That analysis was done by SEO expert Mike King, who examined the documents.
Rand Fishkin, who worked in SEO for more than a decade, says a "source" shared the documents with him. The source hoped to counter "the lies" Google employees put out about how the Search algorithm actually works.
“‘Lied’ is harsh, but it’s the only accurate word to use here,” King writes. “While I don’t necessarily fault Google’s public representatives for protecting their proprietary information, I do take issue with their efforts to actively discredit people in the marketing, tech, and journalism worlds who have presented reproducible discoveries.”
Google came into being in 1998 solely as a search engine. From the start, there have been complaints from the right about the political bias of Google's top executives and employees. Conservatives charge Google with partisan bias and a number of studies have shown that to be at least partially true.
But many more studies claim that there is no bias inherent in Google search results. It's not likely that this leak of 2,500 documents will definitively solve the mystery. But exposing Google's lies about its search engine casts doubt on everything the company has been saying about its algorithm.
Google’s secretive search algorithm has birthed an entire industry of marketers who closely follow Google’s public guidance and execute it for millions of companies around the world. The pervasive, often annoying tactics have led to a general narrative that Google Search results are getting worse, crowded with junk that website operators feel required to produce to have their sites seen. In response to The Verge’s past reporting on the SEO-driven tactics, Google representatives often fall back to a familiar defense: that’s not what the Google guidelines say.
But some details in the leaked documents call into question the accuracy of Google’s public statements regarding how Search works.
One example cited by Fishkin and King is whether Google Chrome data is used in ranking at all. Google representatives have repeatedly indicated that it doesn’t use Chrome data to rank pages, but Chrome is specifically mentioned in sections about how websites appear in Search.
“Historically, some of the search industry’s loudest voices and most prolific publishers have been happy to uncritically repeat Google’s public statements. They write headlines like ‘Google says XYZ is true,’ rather than ‘Google Claims XYZ; Evidence Suggests Otherwise,’” Fishkin writes. “Please, do better. If this leak and the DOJ trial can create just one change, I hope this is it.”
Though the documents aren’t exactly a smoking gun, they provide a deep, unfiltered look at a tightly guarded black box system. The US government’s antitrust case against Google — which revolves around Search — has also led to internal documentation becoming public, offering further insights into how the company’s main product works.
Google’s general caginess on how Search works has led to websites looking the same as SEO marketers try to outsmart Google based on hints the company offers. Fishkin also calls out the publications credulously propping up Google’s public claims as truth without much further analysis.
We shouldn't expect answers regarding Google's political bias. But perhaps we'll be able to ask more penetrating questions that will help illuminate this powerful, secretive tool that undermines democracy and the workings of the republic.
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