SEO Frenzy: Google Algorithm Leak Reveals Hidden Ranking Factors
A set of documents revealing how Google ranks search results has leaked online, creating a buzz in the SEO community. The documents were likely published accidentally by a Google bot on GitHub.
These leaked documents describe an older version of Google’s Content Warehouse API and provide insight into Google Search鈥檚 operations. They were posted around March 13 and were later noticed by Erfan Azimi, CEO of SEO company EA Digital Eagle. On May 7, Google tried to remove the documents, but the information had already spread.
SEO experts Rand Fishkin, CEO of SparkToro, and Michael King, CEO of iPullRank, shared the news on Sunday. The documents detail how to use Google’s internal API, revealing more than 14,000 attributes related to search rankings. Although it’s unclear how important each attribute is, the information contradicts some of Google’s public statements about its search algorithms.
Fishkin pointed out that the leaked documents contradict Google’s denials about using click-centric user signals and other ranking factors. King highlighted a specific detail from the documents showing that Google uses a “siteAuthority” score, despite Google’s previous claims to the contrary.
The documents also reveal that Google considers click metrics, Chrome browser data, content freshness, authorship, and other factors when ranking pages. Google has not commented on the leak.
This leak offers a rare glimpse into Google鈥檚 search ranking process, sparking interest and discussion in the SEO community.
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