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: April 28, 2025

Apr 28, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Deposition: Google Used Search Signals & Data To Train Gemini AI Models

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Copilot Answer More Videos Section

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Tests New Shipping, Returns & Payment Section In Retail Knowledge Panel

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:21 am

Apple Updates Applebot Docs: Explaining Applebot-Extended vs Applebot

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:11 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Console API Data Stuck On April 22

Apr 28, 2025 - 5:56 am
Previous Story: Google AdSense To Penalize/Remove Ads From Pages Vs Whole Site