Is Google's algorithm so complex not even its engineers fully understand it?

Cristian Level X³

May 22, 2017, 4:40 am

Write the reason you're deleting this FAQ

Is Google's algorithm so complex not even its engineers fully understand it?

Google's search and ranking algorithm have become so gigantic and complex that apparently, not even the engineers working at Google fully understand it.

Google's search algorithm has always been complex and people always tried to crack the code behind it to make their website rank higher in the search results. This isn't a mystery really, this is how search engine optimization as born!

Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land said the following:

Google’s own engineers tell me and others they don’t even really understand how it works. Ultimately, the best way to “rank” for RankBrain remains that same boring thing no one wants to hear despite it being true. Have really good, descriptive content.

But a recent statement made by John Mueller (a trends analysis and webmaster at Google) tries to dismiss all of this:

Source
Of course, Google is trying to dismiss all of this! I personally talked with a couple Google employees at various events and I even participated in an interview with Google. Like any other tech company out there that has certain people that have very specific roles inside the company. Depending on your department you are on a need to know basis and won't get too technical involved with other departments. So I'm pretty sure the most search engineers at Google don't fully understand or know the whole algorithm.

As far as lead engineers go, maybe but I have my doubts about understanding the whole picture on a detailed level.
Sure, maybe they get the big picture, but what scares me is that the algorithm as grown so complex, that no employee understands it at its full form, this together with the new Rank Brian update which is essentially is artificial intelligence makes me believe that Google's algorithm is unique in the tech industry and some day may take over the world.

Joke aside this clearly shows SEO experts are limited in their powers. Sure, some SEOs are very successful in ranking websites and do SEO better than the majority but that doesn't mean by any means, they cracked Google's ranking algorithm. If most Google's engineers don't know the big picture, don't expect an SEO to implement miracles. This was for all the SEOs out there to claim they can get anyone on 1st position on any keyword as well as the clients that believe such SEOs exist!

So, what do you think? Is Google in full control over its search and ranking algorithm, does any Google employee fully understand the code behind all of this or did they lost that ability a long time ago?
Let discuss this in the comments below!

Comments

Please login or sign up to leave a comment

Join

centurion

Hello
Have a wondeeful day.

Google search and result follow an algorithm which are very very easy for any engineer. Google search engine algorithm is in case of search that when google show the search engine result than the results come by a format. Like a title within 50 words, a description within 150 words, some pure images of the website and some keywords with the search results. So when we make social media bookmark or backlink- than we will follow this rules. Title-50 words, description-150 words, some keywords, some images and website url. This is the search criteria or search algorithm of google search engine. If any one search by a keyword than google search engine will show the results on this format.

This is called google search algorithm.

This is easy to understand for any one.

Thanks
Centurion

9 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

overcast

I think the issue is with the modules broken down. They have different departments for each algorithm part. For example search query for business goes local. SEO results for generic queries are handled by SEO Teams. And spam team handles different department. So the engineers working on each module must be different. So that's why not all engineers known all the algorithm.

9 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Corzhens

Maybe it can be true that there is no single person who knows the algorithm that is being used by Google. It is a top secret, isn’t it? It may be similar to the world’s most guarded secret which is the formula for Coke. That soda drink which is always number 1 in sales anywhere in the world, its formula is kept in a vault and no one person knows the entire formula. Don’t ask me how they do it but I guess that same scheme is being used by Google in their algorithm.

8 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

jaymish2

I don't think they do. Google is a huge corporation. One of the most important corporations we have had in history. Imagine if the whole search engine were to go down. I think for security sake the algorithm is created by many people at Google and combined to come up with one large algorithm that's so that one person does not have the key to the whole algorithm. Its like algorithm has its own personality. I think as a world we are creating something that could be really dangerous.

8 years ago

Are you sure you want to delete this post?

SEOClerks

Is Google's algorithm so complex not even its engineers fully understand it?

Is Google's algorithm so complex not even its engineers fully understand it?

Comments

Please login or sign up to leave a comment

centurion

overcast

Corzhens

jaymish2

Invalid SQL

Expensive SQL

Suspicious SQL

Match	Count	SQL	Script
SELECT * FROM members_ledger WHERE ip = ? AND added>=unix_timestamp(NOW())-86400	1	SELECT querystring, added FROM members_ledger WHERE ip = ? AND added>=unix_timestamp(NOW())-86400	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/includes/security.php 398 fetchMemberLedger() include_once()
SELECT * FROM `questions` as q JOIN categories_faq as c ON q.catid=c.CATID WHERE (q.status=1 OR (q.status=2 AND userid='') ) AND q.quesid='22723'	1	SELECT q.*, c.seo as CatSEO, c.name as CatName, c.parentid FROM `questions` as q JOIN categories_faq as c ON q.catid=c.CATID WHERE (q.status=1 OR (q.status=2 AND userid='') ) AND q.quesid='22723'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php 496 () ()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='134'	1	SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='134'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/includes/member.php 445 GetAllUserDetails() ()
SELECT * FROM categories_faq WHERE CATID='36'	1	SELECT CATID, seo, name, metatitle, h2header, metakeywords, metadescription, metaheader, parentid, image_name FROM categories_faq WHERE CATID='36'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() GetCategorySeoFromType()
SELECT * FROM categories_faq WHERE CATID='30'	1	SELECT CATID, seo, name, metatitle, h2header, metakeywords, metadescription, metaheader, parentid, image_name FROM categories_faq WHERE CATID='30'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() GetCategorySeoFromType()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID=134	1	SELECT googleplus_profile FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID=134	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 16914 GetGooglePlusProfileFromId() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faq as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=22723 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faq as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=22723 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM answers a, seoclerks.members b WHERE a.quesid='22723' AND a.userid=b.USERID and b.status='1' AND a.status=1 ORDER BY a.combined_votes DESC, a.date_answered asc	1	SELECT a.answer, a.USERID, a.upvotes, a.downvotes, a.ansid, a.parentid, a.combined_votes, a.date_answered, b.username, b.userlevel, b.profilepicture FROM answers a, seoclerks.members b WHERE a.quesid='22723' AND a.userid=b.USERID and b.status='1' AND a.status=1 ORDER BY a.combined_votes DESC, a.date_answered asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php 1245 () ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=117569 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=117569 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=124839 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=124839 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=148205 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=148205 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=163348 LIMIT 5	1	SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=163348 LIMIT 5	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()
UPDATE questions SET total_views = total_views + 1 WHERE quesid='22723'	1	UPDATE questions SET total_views = total_views + 1 WHERE quesid='22723'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 1765 update_Faqviewcount() ()
SELECT * FROM questions WHERE quesid!='22723' AND status='1' AND (question like '%Is Google\'s algorithm complex engineers fully understand it?%' OR question like '%Google\'s%' OR question like '%algorithm%' OR question like '%complex%' OR question like '%engineers%' OR question like '%fully%' OR question like '%understand%') -- ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 15	1	SELECT quesid, question, seo, userid FROM questions WHERE quesid!='22723' AND status='1' AND (question like '%Is Google\'s algorithm complex engineers fully understand it?%' OR question like '%Google\'s%' OR question like '%algorithm%' OR question like '%complex%' OR question like '%engineers%' OR question like '%fully%' OR question like '%understand%') -- ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 15	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() ()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='17130' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='17130' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='19120' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='19120' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='873' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='873' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='18153' limit 1	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='18153' limit 1	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()
SELECT * FROM members_ledger WHERE script='/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php' AND querystring LIKE '%id=22723%' AND added>=UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())-1200 GROUP BY USERID	1	SELECT USERID, username FROM members_ledger WHERE script='/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php' AND querystring LIKE '%id=22723%' AND added>=UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())-1200 GROUP BY USERID	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() ()
SELECT * FROM categories	1	SELECT * FROM categories	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() parseRedundantQueriesCache()
select * from categories_software order by name asc	1	select * from categories_software order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_GetSoftwareCategories()
select * from categories_wanttobuy order by name asc	1	select * from categories_wanttobuy order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_wantcategories()
select * from categories_wanttotrade order by name asc	1	select * from categories_wanttotrade order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_tradecategories()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='301993.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='301993.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='589438.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='589438.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='600657.jpg'	1	SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='600657.jpg'	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()
select * from categories_faq order by name asc	1	select * from categories_faq order by name asc	/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_GetFaqCategories()