Google it is probably the most famous search engine in the world. At least once in their life (but presumably many more) everyone has used this precious help to search for websites, information or products. Now, after more than 35 years of an honored career, he has ended up in the troubleperhaps for the first time since it was founded on September 4, 1998. Google is an American multinational technology company, the brainchild of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, while they were students at Stanford University. The company is primarily known for its search engine, but over the years it has expanded its reach to include a wide range of technology products and services.
Google has to deal with a Leaksalias with a leak regarding its contents and, in this case, the secrets of the algorithm. If on one side society tries hard not to believe the data that is revealed online, on the other it seems clear that something compromising must have been revealed.
What is the Google Leak and what happened
“I’m the one who made sure the news came out, for decades Google lied to us,” are the words of the Iranian computer scientist Erfan Azimi. In a video published on YouTube she wanted to claim her active role in the discovery. The man allegedly stole 2,500 confidential internal documents which contain the secret formula for the operation of the search engine born in Mountain View, in the county of Santa Clara. Google confirmed the authenticity of the documents this morning.
Azimi notified the discovery to Rand Fishkin, one of the founders of Moz, a site that represents the international point of reference for SEO and which has kept track of all the changes in the Google algorithm since the beginning of the millennium. Fishkin, in turn, asked for help Michael Kinganother SEO expert, who is in possession of further information that could be cross-referenced with the data discovered.
Subsequently, the data collected was compared with the official information Google has always released regarding its algorithm.
What has been revealed about the algorithm
The leaked documents reveal, among other things, the type of data Google collects and uses, which sites are prioritized for sensitive topics such as elections or how Google handles small websites. From what transpires it seems clear that some information conflicts with the public statements of Google representatives.
One example cited concerns Google’s use of data Chrome In the ranking of the sites. The company has always maintained that it does not use data from Chrome to rank pages by importance. Yet Chrome is specifically mentioned in sections about how websites appear in searches. Another question mark is the role of the factor EEAT (experience, competence, authority and reliability) in the ranking. Google has claimed that it is not a ranking factor, but documents show otherwise.
The company found itself forced to comment on the incident, speaking of incomplete hypotheses and decontextualized on your own algorithm. What he could not deny is the worrying data leak.
At this point it is fair to ask whether Google is lying to us. The answer is probably yes, but further investigation is needed. Throughout its history, the US company has done everything but be clear about the dynamics that regulate the positioning of its search results. Don’t favor the transparency, however, prevents attackers from using it to manipulate the rankings. In other words, company secrecy protection both the company and the end user. With these premises, Google’s defense could be less clumsy: it would be enough to declare that the stolen data, although real, had only been tested for a limited period of time or had been modified. In short, everything and the opposite of everything. Those who expect clarity or dispel doubts in the face of a leak regarding thealgorithm Google will be disappointed.
