{"id":117410,"date":"2024-05-31T20:53:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T01:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/what-the-google-search-data-leak-means-for-seo\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T05:49:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T10:49:25","slug":"what-the-google-search-data-leak-means-for-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-ca\/insights\/blog\/strategy\/what-the-google-search-data-leak-means-for-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Google Search data leak means for SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Batman villain Harvey Dent put it, \u201cYou either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.\u201d Dent was referring to Julius Caesar\u2019s lifelong accumulation of power and the inevitably tragic result, but the sentiment could now also describe Google\u2019s increasingly fractious relationship with website owners and the wider SEO community.<\/p>\n

The last two years have been a whirlwind for Google, from the DOJ anti-trust lawsuit to 10 confirmed algorithm system updates (including four core updates with significant implications), the reactive launch of the Search Generative Experience (SGE)<\/a> in Labs, the bumpy arrival of AI Overviews, and the contentious growth of Reddit content at the top of the SERP. Almost all of these updates and events have, understandably, generated negative press for Google.<\/p>\n

Then, like a bolt from the blue, this week\u2019s leaked API documents about Google Search appear to have spilled some of the search giant\u2019s most closely guarded secrets. Ex-Googler Erfan Azimi is claiming responsibility<\/a> for leaking Google API documents from Google\u2019s Internal Content API Warehouse in March 2024 to GitHub\u2014documents he subsequently shared with respected SEO stalwart Rand Fishkin, who verified their authenticity and gave his take<\/a>. Likewise, technical SEO expert Mike King reviewed thousands of pages of the leaked documents and analyzed the potential impact on internal ranking features and signals. <\/a><\/p>\n

At first, some were skeptical about the leaks, but they appear legitimate having been scrutinized by trusted figures across the SEO industry, including a number of Azimi\u2019s fellow ex-Googlers. Then, late this Wednesday, Google responded with a statement of its own:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>We would caution against making inaccurate assumptions about Search based on out-of-context, outdated, or incomplete information. <\/span>We’ve<\/span> shared extensive information about how Search works and the types of factors that our systems weigh, while also working to protect the integrity of our results from manipulation.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does Google\u2019s API leak actually reveal?<\/h2>\n

With 2,500 pages of API documentation containing information about more than 14,000 attributes, the leak describes features that nobody outside of Google even knew existed. Worryingly, there is plenty of data in this leak that contradicts many of Google\u2019s public statements over the last 20 years. It appears, for example, that click-through rates do indeed affect ranking, that subdomains have their own rankings, and that domain age is a ranking factor\u2014all of which SEOs have previously speculated about only for the search giant to deny them.<\/p>\n

This may well turn out to be one of the biggest stories in the history of SEO, and there are countless unanswered questions yet to be addressed. Google itself urges caution using this information, as do DAC\u2019s SEO specialists, for a number of reasons:<\/p>\n

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  1. The leak does not provide full-context details of Google\u2019s algorithm system.<\/li>\n
  2. Features or factors mentioned in the leaked documents aren\u2019t necessarily currently being used to rank search results.<\/li>\n
  3. We don\u2019t know how much weight these various signals carry compared to other ranking factors.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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