How Google Search ranking works

An in-depth analysis of how Google’s complex ranking system works and components like Twiddlers and NavBoost that influence search results.
Google Search Tests Mini Knowledge Panel Cards
Google Search is testing miniature, or smaller, knowledge panel cards in the Google Search results. Instead of showing the massive knowledge panel at the top, Google shows this smaller card at the top right of the search results, which leaves the main…
Google AI Overviews With Tons Of Link Icons
We’ve all been complaining about the lack of citations and links in the new Google AI Overviews. Recently Google began testing icons for link citations in the AI Overviews and has been testing them on and off. Here is one of those with tons of link i…
Google Connections For Knowledge Panels
Google can show the connections a person or entity have in its knowledge panel and break down those connections by category. In the example below, for Elon Musk, Google is showing the family connections, the work with connections and the people also s…
Report: Google Sending More Discover Traffic But Less Search Traffic To Publishers
Google is sending news publishers a lot less traffic from Google Web Search but also a lot more traffic from Google Discover. A new report conducted by Newzdash analyzing 8.1 billion clicks across hundreds of news publishers using Google Search Console…
Google Effingo – Insane Transfer Speeds Used By Google Search
Have you heard of Effingo by Google? Google actually spoke about it on their Google Cloud blog in May 2023. Now Gary Illyes from Google said it is used by Google Search and other areas of Google to do insanely fast data transfers across Google data ce…
Google rolls out Structured Data Files QA format for Display & Video 360

Google streamlines DV 360 campaign management with this release offering human-readable bulk reviews for Line Items and YouTube Ad Groups.
Google Featured Snippets With Emojis & Special Characters
It is not every day that you see a Google featured snippet with emojis and special Unicode characters. Here is an example of one spotted by Nick Churick (hat tip Patrick Stox) that he posted on X.
Google Lens Rolling Out Speak Now To Ask About This Image
Google seems to be rolling out a new Google Lens feature that lets you record with your camera and also speak with your voice on top of that video. Then Google Lens will match the video or image with your spoken text to give you a set of search results…
Google Ads API v17_1 introduces new features and enhancements

Advertisers can now generate shareable ad previews, remove automatically created assets, access offline conversion diagnostics and more.
Google Tests More Videos To Short Videos Tab Instead Of Loading More Videos Below
Google is testing sending the searcher to the short videos tab after clicking on the more videos button, instead of dynamically loading videos underneath the videos you are currently looking at in the search results.
Google Search Snippets You May Like Label
Google is testing a new label for its search results snippets, this one is named “you may like.” I am not sure how Google knows you may like this search result snippet, unless this is a variation of how Google names the “you visit often” label?
Google enhances Local Services Ads with auto-selected photos

Automatic photo selection for Local Services Ads, aims to boost engagement and ad rankings for businesses that upload high-quality, images to their profiles.
Google declared a monopoly: industry reactions and implications

Digital marketers highlight uncertainties about long-term implications, potential market disruptions, and challenges in determining meaningful penalties.
Advertisers react to Google Reporting and Product Listing glitch

Concern raised among advertisers have been about data privacy, competitive intelligence, and Google’s transparency in handling the situation
Google Ads recovers from major reporting glitch

The glitch exposed some advertisers to others’ data & some couldn’t edit product groups. Most services are now restored and credits promised to those affected.
Google Trends Rolls Out New Trending Now Design
Google Trends began rolling out a new design for the trending now page a day or so ago. The new design seems to give you more filter options and provide more keyword data on the same page.
Google Search Console launches recommendations

This is an experimental feature, so you might not see it yet.
Report: Google Search traffic and queries not impacted by new competing AI search engines

New data from Datos’ clickstream panel analyzed by Sonata Insights showed Google traffic grew over the year, despite all the new AI competitors.
Google Removes See Results About Title From Mobile Search Results
Google has dropped the title from the “see results about” disambiguous search feature in the mobile search results interface. The feature is still very much alive, but on mobile search, Google removed the title of it and just shows the feature. On desk…