Google Algorithm

Have you ever wondered just how Google intends to achieve its stated aim; “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”?

Most people who use Google will not give any thought to the mechanics behind the provided search results. These results are thanks to the Google algorithm – one of the many signals that Google uses to provide relevant search results.

Though Google are understandably reluctant to divulge too much detail about the inner workings of their algorithm, we do know that a large part of it is PageRank. This is the system invented by co-founder Larry Page while he was studying in Stanford and is described by Google thus:

“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important””

Here are the key advances in the Google algorithm :

1997~

The search giant we know today originated as “Backrub”, a research project that ran on Stanford’s servers for almost two years. It was renamed “Google” in 1997 and the Google algorithm used a then unheard of system of determining relevancy; the quality and quantity of inbound links.

2001~

Google begins to update its index constantly, rather than in large quantities of information at one time.

2003~
Google introduces “Local Connectivity Analysis”, which gives more weight to links from authoritative websites.

2005~

“Personalised results” introduced. Users can allow Google to analyse their search behaviour and provide results based on that analysis.

2007~

Google rolls out “Universal search”, giving users links from any source on the same page.

2009~

“Real time search” is introduced, incorporating results from blogs and social media websites such as Twitter.

So what’s next for the Google algorithm ? The one thing we can be certain of is that it will not remain static. The most recent updates have been to the real time search engine, adding Facebook Fan page and MySpace status updates to search results. These updates came at a time when the power of social media is being demonstrated time and again and Google has recognised it as a valuable source of information to its users. This awareness of its users, coupled with a reluctance to rest on its laurels will likely allow Google to remain ahead of its competitors for many years to come.

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