The Google Algorithm Leak and What It Means for SEO Strategy

By Ian Njiru

The May 2024 algorithm leak, arguably the largest in Google history, has exposed some of the search engine’s most confidential information. And while the document doesn’t give away every ranking secret, it does shed light on the way Google will be prioritizing key elements of its search algorithm moving forward.

Highlights of the Google Algorithm Leak

Although the API document reveals 2,596 modules and 14,014 attributes, Google’s specific ranking system remains unknown. That notwithstanding, SEO professionals can still take advantage of the following aspects of the Google algorithm leak.

Attention to Smaller Sites

The “smallPersonalSite” attribute suggests that Google may incorporate Twiddlers (re-ranking features) to elevate or demote small personal sites. Even so, Google has yet to define “small personal sites” and the attribute’s impact on ranking.

Links Still Count

“sourceType” implies that Google classifies links as high, medium, and low-quality. A link is considered low-quality if its source receives low traffic. These links don’t affect site rankings, and search engines might even ignore them altogether. On the other hand, high-quality links come from busy pages and boost website rankings.

Backlink velocity (how fast a site earns or loses backlinks) also comes into play. The “PhraseAnchorSpamDays” signal measures the volume and speed of new backlinks, differentiating between genuine and manipulative link growth.

Chrome Data Matters

The “ChromeInTotal” score suggests that Google uses Chrome browser data to filter search results. Even so, Google has always denied this claim. According to a 2012 statement by the company’s former webspam lead, Matt Cutts, Google’s organic algorithm doesn’t rely on Chrome data. John Mueller, the company’s senior search analyst also shared similar sentiments in 2022.

Domain Authority

“siteAuthority” determines a website’s authority for specific topics to influence search rankings. Another notable metric is “PageRank”, appearing 16 times throughout the document. That means new pages use the homepage’s PageRank score until new scores take effect.

Dates Are Important

In addition to determining relevance, Google may use dates to identify duplicate content. The following attributes confirm Google’s preference for fresh content:

• bylineDate: This explicitly mentioned date appears in the document’s byline

• semanticDate: This date appears in the document title or URL

• syntacticDate: It appears on the page content

Ensure the dates are consistent across structured data, URLs, XML sitemaps, and page titles to boost content performance. Additionally,post regularly instead of publishing all your content in a single batch. Frequent publishing enables search engines to crawl your website more often, providing additional opportunities for authority and relevance.

Change History

By gathering and storing domain registration information, Google can tell who owns every domain. Similarly, Google can use its position as the domain registrar to monitor domain ownership history.

That’s not all–the “urlHistory” version suggests that Google tracks page changes up to the last 20 versions, emphasizing the importance of various web versions when analyzing links. 

Whitelists

The Google algorithm leak hints at special treatment for certain types of content. For example, the “isElectionAuthority” module suggests potential whitelisting for political information during the election period. The same applies to the “isCovidLocalAuthority” module which suggests a preference for health content during the pandemic. But although whitelisting prioritizes factual data from trusted sources, there are concerns about potential bias.

Font Size

Bolding, underlining, and increasing the font sizes of key phrases has always been standard practice among marketers and SEO professionals. The Google algorithm leak confirms that this is still beneficial, with features like “titlematchScore” emphasizing the value of page titles.

Additionally, “avgTermWeight” measures a phrase’s average weighted font size, including backlink anchor text and keywords.

Human Quality Raters

Human raters or reviewers have always been part of Google’s ranking system, with the company even sharing its team’s quality guidelines with the public.

Although it’s unclear how quality raters influence search algorithms, the Google algorithm leak contains a “humanRatings” attribute. This could mean anything–maybe human raters help train classifiers or their opinions directly affect web rankings.      

What Does This Mean for SEO Strategy?

Although the document isn’t a definitive ranking guide, the SEO community can take the following lessons from the Google algorithm leak.

Create for Users

Before optimizing for search engines, focus on creating and promoting content to relevant audiences. That includes answering user queries, sharing practical advice, and supporting your content with up-to-date links and data. 

Track Content Performance

Understand clicks, dwell time, and other metrics that Google cares about. This helps you understand user behavior, including the best performing pages and why, where, and when users are leaving your website. In turn, you can create more useful content and track the performance of your SEO strategy. 

Work on Your Brand

A solid brand promotes more mentions on digital platforms, telling search engines that users value your content. That includes niching down to gain authority on a particular area. For example, you can build topic clusters to organize different articles around a main theme for comprehensive coverage.

The Kicker

Rather than implementing the recommendations from the leak blindly, conduct real-time tests on your website to verify the information. Regardless of what Google’s recent algorithm leak has revealed, a well-constructed SEO strategy remains undefeated in building a solid online presence. Optimize your marketing strategy for any digital landscape – contact us to enjoy consistent results.