This Monday I posted a new thread over at Search Engine Watch forums under the title Phi - "Google and the Golden Ratio". The goal of the thread was to get some of the more scientific minds into the discussion on this new theory on Google. The theory is that Google may be using Phi (1.618) as a ratio for the "natural" level of anchor text pointing to a document.
One of the new PhDs over at SEW Forums named Xan chimes in with a little history:
Phi. The hermetic rule of the golden mean. This goes back as far as the Egyptians, the romans, all those dudes back then who used it supposedly for their architecture. I know many speculate that the pyramids were built based on this. There's a very close relationship between Pi and Phi. Leonardo was a fan as well, and people think it can be found in the human body as well. Some say its divine and the work of god.
But what really makes me smile is his comment that reads;
The coolest thing about Phi? When subtracted from its square it results in 1. Beautiful.
Reminds me of my days in university when I used to think passionately about a regression models and funky looking graphs. But that is long gone.
But what is the bottom line on this? Well most feel that this is not being used by Google for many reasons. As Xan puts it, "Phi is just one amongst many. Why Phi was chosen? Its the golden equation. It is beautiful, but it is a bit useless in this case. Its the wrong tool for the job."
