Intro
Google’s SearchLiaison has admitted imperfections in their ranking algorithms and outlined ongoing efforts to improve search results. This acknowledgment came in response to concerns raised on X (formerly Twitter) about poor search result quality.
Questioning Google’s Search Results
The discussion started with a tweet highlighting a high-ranking site that allegedly violated Google’s guidelines. The tweet questioned how an article, perceived as half anecdotal and half marketing, managed to rank #1 on Google for “Molekule Air Mini+ review.”
“This review has been ranking #1 on Google for “Molekule Air Mini+ review” for the past six months. It is 50% anecdotal and 50% marketing messaging. It doesn’t share in-depth original research. So, how did they make it to the top of Google?”
Google’s Response
SearchLiaison responded, explaining that while Google aims to reward content aligned with their guidelines, the current systems are not perfect. He emphasized the scale at which Google operates, indexing trillions of web pages, which necessitates automated systems.
“Danny, I appreciate where you’re coming from — just as I appreciated the post that HouseFresh originally shared, as well as this type of feedback from others. I do. I also totally agree that the goal is for us to reward content that’s aligned with our guidance. From the HouseFresh post itself, there seemed to be some sense that we had actually improved over time:
“In our experience, each rollout of the Products Review Update has shaken things up, generally benefitting sites and writers who actually dedicated time, effort, and money to test products before they would recommend them to the world.”
That said, there’s clearly more we should be doing. I don’t think this is particularly new, as I’ve shared before that our ranking systems aren’t perfect and that I see content that we ought to do better by, as well as content we’re rewarding when we shouldn’t.
But it’s also not a system where any individual reviews content and says “OK, that’s great — rank it better” or “OK that’s not great, downrank it.” It simply wouldn’t work for a search engine that indexes trillions of pages of content from across the web to operate that way. You need scalable systems. And you need to keep working on improving those systems.
That’s what we’ll keep doing. We’re definitely aware of these concerns. We’ve seen the feedback, including the feedback from our recent form. I’ve personally been through every bit of that feedback and have been organizing it so our teams can look further at different aspects. This is in addition to the work they’re already doing, based on feedback we’ve already seen.”
Key Takeaways from Google’s Statement
-
Alignment with Guidelines: Google agrees that their algorithms should reward content that aligns with their quality and helpfulness guidelines.
-
Acknowledgment of Imperfection: Current ranking systems need improvement in rewarding useful content and avoiding inappropriate content.
-
Commitment to Feedback: Google is actively listening to feedback and working to improve their algorithms.
-
Scalable Systems: Managing trillions of pages requires scalable and automated systems, not manual reviews.
Concerns from the Community
The community expressed frustration with the perceived slow pace of improvements and the negative impact of recent updates on legitimate hobby sites. Many feel that the updates favor large platforms like Reddit, Pinterest, Quora, Forbes, and Business Insider, at the expense of smaller, passionate creators.
“Danny, aren’t all your ‘system improvements’ fully tested BEFORE rolling them out?
Surely your team was aware of the shakeup in the SERPs that these last few updates would cause.
Completely legitimate hobby sites written by passionate creators getting absolutely DECIMATED by these updates.
All in favor of Reddit, Pinterest, Quora, Forbes, Business Insider, and other nonsense gaining at their expense.
I guess what I’m saying is — surely this was not a surprise.
You guys knew this carnage was coming as a direct result of the updates.
And now — here we are, NINE months later — and there have been ZERO cases of these legitimate sites recovering. In fact, the March update just made it 100x worse.
And so Google is saying ‘yeah we f-d up, we’re working on it.’
But the question is—and I think I speak on behalf of thousands of creators when I ask—’What the hell is taking so long?'”
Conclusion
Google’s SearchLiaison acknowledges that their ranking systems are imperfect and emphasizes their ongoing commitment to improving search results. While this admission is a step towards transparency, many site owners and search marketers remain frustrated with the current state of search rankings and the slow pace of improvements.
