Google: We Do Understand Our Highly Complex Algorithms

May 15, 2017 - 8:23 am 31 by

Google Knowledge Bubble

Google's John Mueller said it is not true that Google's own engineers do not "know the exact composition of their highly complex algorithm." Many folks in our industry, including myself, doubt that one person at Google knows all the details of the algorithm. Some believe the algorithm has run away without most engineers knowing exactly how it works.

John Mueller responded to such accusations saying it is not true on Twitter. Here is a screen shot:

Google Knows Algorithm

Danny Sullivan was quoted saying this:

Google’s own engineers tell me and others they don’t even really understand how it works. Ultimately, the best way to “rank” for RankBrain remains that same boring thing no one wants to hear despite it being true. Have really good, descriptive content.

Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land

Truth is, Google has implied this to me as well. So I am not sure how far off it is for Danny to say that.

Do you think Google is on top of their algorithms? Do you think Google engineers know everything that is going on?

What I believe is that not one person does but that most can debug the algorithm and get to the bottom of why a query is handled this way versus the expected way. Hope that makes sense.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 16, 2025

Jun 16, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Google Search Tests Audio Overview

Jun 16, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Merchant Center Updates Some User Interface Elements

Jun 16, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Dropping Microsoft Name From Bing Search Box

Jun 16, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests New Charts Interface For Campaigns

Jun 16, 2025 - 7:21 am
Web Analytics

ChatGPT Updates To Improve Tracking In Analytics With More UTM Parameters

Jun 16, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google AdSense To Penalize/Remove Ads From Pages Vs Whole Site