Google Explains Systems Are Machines That Use Ranking Signals & Factors Which Are Fuel

Feb 6, 2024 - 7:51 am 2 by
Filed Under Google

Google Robot Fire Machine

Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, gave a good analogy of the differences between ranking systems, ranking signals and ranking factors. He said signals and factors are the same, the "signal/factors are like fuel; systems are the machine that uses them," Sullivan wrote.

Danny Sullivan explained that at Google, "We use signal and factor fairly synonymously."

He said that the signals and factors "are indeed different from systems that tend to process signals/factors." He said think of these "as fuel and a machine."

Where the "signal and factors are like fuel" while the "systems are the machine that uses them."

Here is that post:

I like the analogy; I think it works.

Forum discussion at X.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Web Analytics

Google Analytics Real Time Reporting Broken Again

Jul 17, 2025 - 10:40 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 17, 2025

Jul 17, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Google AI Mode Gets Gemini 2.5 Pro & Deep Search For A Fee

Jul 17, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Discover Officially Gets AI-Generated Summaries

Jul 17, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

How The Google Ask For Me Feature Works & New AI Local Calling

Jul 17, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Tests Much Larger Favicons In Search

Jul 17, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google To Clarify E-E-A-T & Quality Rater Guidelines Documentation