Google Has Been Lying About Their Search Results

Summary

The video script discusses the recent accidental leak of Google's search algorithm details on GitHub, revealing that Google has been misleading about its ranking mechanisms. It highlights that Google still uses PageRank and website authority scores, contrary to previous claims. The script also uncovers that Google categorizes websites differently, potentially demoting small personal sites. Furthermore, it confirms that Google tracks user clicks and time spent on pages to influence search rankings, contradicting earlier statements. The leak raises privacy concerns and suggests that these insights could aid in SEO strategies for online businesses.

Takeaways

• 😲 Big tech companies like Google often leak sensitive data via platforms like GitHub accidentally.
• 💸 Despite heavy investments in information security, human errors can undermine these efforts.
• 🔍 The recent Google leak revealed details about the search algorithm, contrary to Google's claims.
• 📈 Google never fully eliminated PageRank and website authority scores, despite public statements to the contrary.
• 📝 PageRank historically used backlinks as a major factor in determining the importance of a webpage.
• 📉 Google has a system of ranking categories, and small personal sites are ranked separately from mainstream sites.
• 🤔 This separate ranking suggests a potential bias against smaller, personal websites in favor of larger brands.
• 📦 New websites often face a 'sandbox' period where they are not included in the main Google index for an unspecified time.
• 📉 Google's tracking of clicks and time spent on pages directly contradicts their public statements on ranking factors.
• 🛠️ The leaked information can help individuals improve their SEO strategies by understanding Google's actual practices.

Q & A

Why do large tech companies like Google still experience data leaks despite investing heavily in information security?

Despite significant investments in security infrastructure and employee training, human error can still lead to data leaks, such as an employee inadvertently posting sensitive information to a public platform like GitHub.

What was the nature of the recent leak involving Google's search algorithm?

The recent leak did not involve a full source code release of Google's search algorithm, but it did reveal insights into how the algorithm works, contradicting some of Google's previous public statements.

What was the significance of Google's PageRank in the context of SEO?

PageRank was a metric used by Google to determine the importance of a web page, influencing its likelihood to appear in search results. It was based on the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to the page.

Did Google actually discontinue the use of PageRank and website authority scores as they claimed?

The leak suggests that Google has not completely done away with PageRank and website authority scores, contrary to their public statements.

What is the implication of Google having specific ranking categories for different types of websites?

The existence of specific ranking categories could imply that Google may be favoring certain types of websites, such as mainstream sites over smaller personal sites, in their search results.

What is the 'sandbox' concept mentioned in the script, and how does it affect new websites?

The 'sandbox' refers to a period during which new websites may not appear in Google's main index, regardless of their SEO efforts. This can last for months and affects the visibility of these sites in search results.

Why did Google deny the existence of a sandbox when it is suggested by the leak that they do use one?

Google may have denied the existence of a sandbox to avoid admitting to practices that could be seen as limiting the visibility of new websites, which contradicts their image as an open and fair search platform.

What does the leak reveal about Google's use of user engagement data, such as clicks and time spent on a page, for search rankings?

The leak confirms that Google tracks user clicks and time spent on pages, which contradicts their previous statements that they do not use this data for search rankings.

What are the privacy implications of Google tracking user clicks and time spent on sites?

Tracking these metrics raises privacy concerns as it indicates that Google has extensive surveillance over users' online activities, potentially infringing on user privacy.

How might the information from the leak be beneficial for those working on search engine optimization (SEO)?

The leak provides insights into Google's actual ranking factors, which can help SEO professionals adjust their strategies to better align with Google's algorithms and improve their websites' visibility in search results.

What is the connection suggested between Google's development of the Chrome browser and their search engine optimization efforts?

The script suggests that Google developed the Chrome browser to harvest click data, which could be used to optimize their search engine and potentially dominate the search landscape by funneling traffic to their services.

Outlines

00:00

😮 Big Tech Data Leaks via GitHub

The paragraph discusses the irony of big tech companies like Google, despite investing heavily in information security measures such as expensive firewalls and employee training, still experiencing data leaks through simple mistakes like accidental postings on GitHub. The recent leak in question revealed insights into Google's search algorithm, debunking previous claims by Google about their transparency and the non-existence of certain ranking metrics. The paragraph highlights the discovery that Google never actually abandoned Page Rank and website Authority scores, which were once publicly visible metrics determining a web page's importance and likelihood to appear in search results. The author suggests that the leak might lead to minor adjustments in SEO strategies and raises questions about Google's honesty regarding their search engine's operations.

05:03

🤔 Google's Search Algorithm Controversies

This paragraph delves into the implications of Google's search algorithm leak, which suggests that Google has been dishonest about not using certain ranking factors. It touches on the revelation that Google maintains specific ranking categories for different types of websites, such as small personal sites, and speculates on potential bias towards larger brands. The paragraph also introduces the concept of Google's 'search sandbox,' a previously denied practice that may delay the indexing of new websites, thus affecting their visibility in search results. Furthermore, it accuses Google of perjury for allegedly lying under oath about not using user engagement data, such as clicks and time spent on pages, for search ranking purposes, which contradicts earlier public statements by Google representatives.

10:04

🧐 The True Purpose of Google's Chrome Browser?

The final paragraph questions the true motive behind Google's development of the Chrome browser, suggesting that it may have been designed to harvest user click data to enhance Google's search engine capabilities. The author implies that this data collection could be a strategic move to dominate the search engine market and monetize user traffic. The paragraph also discusses the broader implications of Google's alleged dishonesty and the potential privacy concerns arising from tracking user behavior online. It concludes with a note on how the leaked information might benefit those working on search engine optimization, offering a silver lining to the controversy.

Keywords

💡Big Tech

Big Tech refers to the largest technology companies, often characterized by their significant market power and influence over various industries. In the video, 'Big Tech' is used to describe companies like Google, which are known for their substantial investment in information security yet still experience data leaks, highlighting the contrast between their resources and vulnerabilities.

💡Information Security

Information security is the practice of protecting digital information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. The script discusses how companies invest in this area, purchasing advanced firewalls and training employees to prevent security breaches, yet it also points out that human error can still undermine these measures.

💡GitHub

GitHub is a web-based platform used for version control and collaboration that allows developers to work on projects from anywhere. The video script mentions an accidental leak of sensitive data via GitHub, indicating a lapse in security protocol by an employee with access to Google's account on the platform.

💡Search Algorithm

A search algorithm is a set of rules used by search engines to rank web pages in response to a search query. The script discusses a recent leak that revealed information about Google's search algorithm, suggesting that despite public claims, certain aspects like PageRank were not entirely abandoned.

💡PageRank

PageRank is an algorithm used by Google to rank web pages in their search engine results. It was initially a publicly visible metric that determined a page's importance based on the quantity and quality of backlinks. The video points out that Google claimed to have discontinued PageRank, but the leak suggests otherwise.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website on a search engine's unpaid results to increase the number of visitors the site receives. The script suggests that the leak might lead to some adjustments in SEO strategies, as it provides insights into how Google's search algorithm works.

💡Backlinks

Backlinks, also known as incoming links or inbound links, are links from one website to another. They are a crucial aspect of SEO, as they were a primary factor in Google's PageRank algorithm. The video uses backlinks as an example of how PageRank worked and how they continue to be relevant in SEO practices.

💡Website Authority Score

A website authority score is a metric that estimates the influence or 'authority' of a website based on various factors. Google claimed to have removed such scores affecting search results, but the script implies that this was misleading, as the leak suggests Google still uses similar metrics.

💡Sandbox

In the context of the script, a 'sandbox' refers to a period during which a new website is not fully indexed by Google, potentially affecting its visibility in search results. The video suggests that Google has such a mechanism, which can last for months, despite previous denials.

💡Click Tracking

Click tracking is the process of monitoring the actions of visitors to a website, including which links they click on. The script reveals that Google tracks user clicks and time spent on pages, contradicting previous statements made by the company, and raising privacy concerns.

💡Dwell Time

Dwell time refers to the amount of time a user spends on a webpage after clicking on a search result. Although Google's search analyst claimed that dwell time does not affect page ranking, the script suggests that the leaked information confirms Google does consider this metric, which could imply that longer dwell times may indicate a successful search result.

💡Privacy Implications

Privacy implications relate to the potential negative effects on individual privacy caused by certain actions or policies. The video discusses how Google's tracking of clicks and dwell times has privacy implications, as it involves monitoring users' behavior across the internet.

Highlights

Big tech companies like Google sometimes leak sensitive data via platforms like GitHub despite significant investments in information security.

A recent leak revealed details about Google's search algorithm, contradicting previous claims about its operation.

Contrary to Google's statements, PageRank and website authority scores are still in use, affecting SEO strategies.

PageRank was a public metric indicating a web page's importance and its likelihood to appear in search results, based on backlinks.

Google claimed to have removed PageRank in 2016, but the leak suggests otherwise.

The leak exposed that Google has specific ranking categories for different types of websites, including small personal sites.

There is speculation that Google is demoting small personal sites in favor of larger brands based on the leak.

Google operates a 'sandbox' for new websites, potentially delaying their appearance in search results for months.

The existence of the sandbox contradicts Google's previous denials, as evidenced by a deleted tweet from a Google Trends Analyst.

Google has been accused of lying under oath about not using click data and time spent on pages for search rankings.

The leak confirms that Google tracks user clicks and time spent on sites, impacting search result rankings.

The privacy implications of tracking click data raise concerns about Google's surveillance of user behavior online.

The development of Google's Chrome browser may have been motivated by a desire to harvest click data for search engine optimization.

The leak could potentially benefit those working on search engine optimization by providing insights into Google's ranking mechanisms.

The information revealed may help online businesses improve their SEO without relying solely on Google's advertising services.

Transcripts

it always baffles me how big tech

companies like Google end up leaking so

much sensitive data just via posting it

to GitHub accidentally like these

companies literally invest millions of

dollars into their information security

they'll buy nextg firewalls that cost as

much as a decent house and they'll spend

hours of time training their employees

on how to avoid fishing scams and all

the usual attack vectors but all of that

just gets under Mind by some employee

with access to Google's GitHub account I

guess not understanding how git commit

Works they really are their own biggest

threat model uh so of course what I'm

talking about here is the recent leak

that contained a lot of information

about how Google search algorithm works

now contrary to what some headlines are

saying it's not like there was a full

source code leak of the algorithm you

know if there was then SEO Bros would be

having a field day with that um but I

think the main takeaway from this leak

here besides like maybe some small

tweaks to make to your SEO

strategy is really just the fact that

Google has been lying to our faces and

to the government for years now about

how their search engine really works one

of the big lies that was discovered is

that Google never really did away with

page Rank and website Authority scores

so for those of you who never dealt with

online marketing or SEO stuff like 10

plus years ago page rink was this metric

that Google used to publicly use like

you could actually see what your

website's pag rank score was um and this

score was used to determine how

important a web page was and thus How

likely it was for that web page to pop

up in a search result for searches that

are related to the content of that

website so under that page rank system

the rank for any particular web page

would be higher depending on the number

of quality links Elsewhere on the

internet that reference that page and

there were a couple of other metrics

that went into it as well but we're just

keeping things simple here um you know

backlinks were the main factor which is

why if you look at old school SEO guides

like backlinks are the main thing that

they're talking about oh build your

backlinks build your backlinks um so to

just kind of break this down with an

example there's probably a million web

pages out there on the internet that

have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies

But whichever one gets referenced the

most times by different blog sites and

ideally like big blog sites that a lot

of people are going to and also YouTube

videos big news sites whatever the more

links there are referencing that

particular web page the more likely it

is you'll see that web page when you

Google a chocolate chip cookie

recipe but then around

2016 Google got rid of page rank um or

at least they removed the toolbars and

the features that would let you actively

be able to track your website's page

rank so that you can make changes and

try to improve your SEO and actually see

like how changes to your website are

improving how it's ranked um by Google

and after Google made this removal they

said on multiple occasions that there

was no longer any website Authority

score that would affect search results

anymore but in general when we have

something that's kind of like a sitewide

score then the current sitewide score

applies to everything for that website

so from from my point of view we don't

have anything like a website Authority

score but if we did have something like

that or if we have like when we're

looking at for example like quality

signals that are more sitewide then

that's something that applies across the

whole website in the state that it's at

now so it's not the case that we would

say oh five years ago you had this score

for your website Therefore your content

will be rated like this forever uh but

rather we look at your website overall

now and we apply the current score to

all of your pages on on the website so

clearly that was a lie now a new

somewhat disturbing detail that has been

revealed from this leak is that Google

has specific ranking categories for

different kinds of

websites and one of these ranking

categories is the small personal site

okay so Google is ranking these

separately than how they're ranking uh

kind of the mainstream sites and some

people have been taking this um as

evidence that Google is demoting small

personal sites like smaller blog sites

in favor of bigger Brands now it's kind

of hard for me to just confirm this

based on the leak alone but if you've

been using Google you've probably

observed that most of the results you

get for anything that you

search are from major sites that don't

always have the best information on them

versus like a small personal blog about

a very specific Niche subject that

somebody probably knows a whole lot

about that you could get some you know

good information

from and another disturbing realization

for operators of smaller websites that

are just getting started

online is that Google actually does have

a search

sandbox for sites that can last for

months in some some cases after you've

started your online business so

basically to explain this when you

launch a new website there's a good

chance that you weren't going to be

included in the main Google index even

if you did everything right like you're

targeting you know a niche that's not

oversaturated um maybe you paid good

money to a developer who's also an SEO

expert or you're the good developer

who's an SEO expert yourself um and

maybe also have a large social media

following right so in theory you can

create good backlinks for your site as

well um then you know promote your site

there but still when people go to Google

they won't find your site via General

search results until your site has been

aged for some non-specific amount of

time now again this sandbox is something

that people just assumed has existed on

Google for a long time probably because

people make new sites and they can't

find it by searching unless you search

for like the exact URL of your site um

and that's why we have threads like this

from Twitter that exist well technically

it's not on Twitter anymore because uh

John moo a webm uh webmas Trends Analyst

at Google went and deleted this tweet

but this is the original thread that was

saved on the internet archive where an

Indian blogger was I guess trying to

optimize his site or he created a new

site to Target a US audience but he's in

India and so he was wondering uh when

the sandbox for this new website would

expire and John responded in bold large

font text that there is no

sandbox well yeah they're clearly is it

says right here in your API

documentation so now we know that that

was a lie

but the biggest lie and the one that

might actually get Google in trouble

because you know Google can lie to you

and me all they want but you know when

you lie to the Department of Justice

when you tell a lie under oath it can be

a problem I think they call that perjury

uh but this lie here that Google told

under oath is about how Google uses

clicks for search rankings so Google

said they don't use this data they don't

track your clicks they don't track how

long you spend on a page

to to rank uh results and I feel like

everyone knew that that was a lie right

like it's no coincidence that the most

popular browser and the most popular

search engine are under the umbrella of

the same company um but here this leak

just confirms that not only is Google

tracking your clicks but they are

tracking how much time you spend on a

page which is a direct contradiction to

what Gary one of Google's search

analysts said on Reddit that dwell time

and C have nothing to do with page

ranking so sure maybe Google doesn't

call it dwell time internally within

their documentation but they are clearly

tracking clicks and search results in

time spent on a site after you click on

it in order to determine the level of

success that a search result had because

yeah Common Sense would tell you if

somebody searched for something clicked

on a site and then spent a lot of time

on that website they probably found what

they were looking for um but of course

there's some pretty disturbing privacy

implications uh for tracking these

clicks because yeah obviously Google's

watching everything that you see on the

internet you know it really makes me

think that harvesting click data to fuel

their search engine was really the whole

reason that Google developed the Chrome

browser in the first place cuz you got

to think right they don't make money

directly off of the Chrome browser it's

free right not you know free as in Libre

software but free is in it doesn't cost

you any money um and it's supposed to be

so much better than all the other

browsers that are out there on the web

so why would a for-profit company take

the time to build something like Chrome

this makes me think that it was just to

get more search metrics to in theory

make their search engine better but

really it's about dominating the search

engine landscape so that Google can

funnel as much traffic to their services

as possible and then turn around and

sell that traffic to online business

owners more people are visiting Google

than any other website on the internet

for the most part people are using

Google to find new websites or products

to buy and if you pay Google some money

then I guess that's the best chances

you're going to have to actually get

more people to go to your website and of

course scammers abuse this as well to

get people to go to their scam sites

that serve

malware so yeah I guess it's no surprise

that Google has been lying to us all

this time anything's possible now that

being evil is no longer the company's

motto but on the bright side the

information revealed in this leak will

probably help some people with search

engine optimization so if you've got an

online business and you're trying to

improve your SEO to get more traffic to

your your site without just paying money

to the Google Mafia then this leak may

be useful to you I'll leave the uh hex

STS links that I've taken most of these

screenshots from in the description of

this video like and share this video to

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