20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

SEO » Article

How Google Search ranking works

Published: August 13, 2024 at 9:00 am

Read Time: 31 minutes

Share     

Written by
Mario Fischer

Table of Contents

A new document waiting for Googlebot’s visit

Alexandria: The great library
Are You Ranking #1?
QBST: Someone is looking for ‘pencil’
Ascorer: The ‘green ring’ is created
Superroot: Turn 1,000 into 10!
Filter after filter: The Twiddlers
Google’s quality raters and RankLab
But what do users want? NavBoost can fix that!
The GWS: Where everything comes to an end and a new beginning
Key SEO takeaways

An in-depth analysis of how Google's complex ranking system works and

components like Twiddlers and NavBoost that influence search results.

It should be clear to everyone that the Google documentation leak and the public
documents from antitrust hearings do not really tell us exactly how the rankings
work.

[Link] 1/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

The structure of organic search results is now so complex – not least due to the use
of machine learning – that even the Google employees who work on the ranking
algorithms say they can no longer explain why a hit is at one or two. We do not know
the weighting of the many signals and the exact interplay.

Nevertheless, it is important to familiarize yourself with the structure of the search

engine to understand why well-optimized pages do not rank or, conversely, why
seemingly short and non-optimized results sometimes appear at the top of the
rankings. The most important aspect is that you need to broaden your view of what is
really important.

All the information available clearly shows that. Anyone who is even marginally
involved with ranking should incorporate these findings into their own mindset. You
will see your websites from a completely different point of view and incorporate
additional metrics into your analyses, planning and decisions.

To be honest, it is extremely difficult to draw a truly valid picture of the systems’

structure. The information on the web is quite different in its interpretation and
sometimes differs in terms, although the same thing is meant.

An example: The system responsible for building a SERP (search results page) that
optimizes space use is called Tangram. In some Google documents, however, it is
also referred to as Tetris, which is probably a reference to the well-known game.

Over weeks of detailed work, I have viewed, analyzed, structured, discarded and
restructured almost 100 documents many times.

This article is not intended to be exhaustive or strictly accurate. It represents my best

effort (i.e., “to the best of my knowledge and belief”) and a bit of Inspector Columbo’s
investigative spirit. The result is what you see here.

[Link] 2/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

A graphical overview of how Google ranking works, created by the author

A new document waiting for Googlebot’s visit
When you publish a new website, it is not indexed immediately. Google must first
become aware of the URL. This usually happens either via an updated sitemap or via
a link placed there from an already-known URL.

Frequently visited pages, such as the homepage, naturally bring this link information
to Google’s attention more quickly.

The trawler system retrieves new content and keeps track of when to revisit the URL
to check for updates. This is managed by a component called the scheduler. The
store server decides whether the URL is forwarded or whether it is placed in the
sandbox.

Google denies the existence of this box, but the recent leaks suggest that (suspected)
spam sites and low-value sites are placed there. It should be mentioned that Google
apparently forwards some of the spam, probably for further analysis to train its
algorithms.

Our fictitious document passes this barrier. Outgoing links from our document are
extracted and sorted according to internal or external outgoing. Other systems
primarily use this information for link analysis and PageRank calculation. (More on
this later.)

[Link] 3/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Links to images are transferred to the ImageBot, which calls them up, sometimes
with a significant delay, and they are placed (together with identical or similar images)
in an image container. Trawler apparently uses its own PageRank to adjust the crawl
frequency. If a website has more traffic, this crawl frequency increases
(ClientTrafficFraction).

Alexandria: The great library

Google’s indexing system, called Alexandria, assigns a unique DocID to each piece of
content. If the content is already known, such as in the case of duplicates, a new ID is
not created; instead, the URL is linked to the existing DocID.

Important: Google differentiates between a URL and a document. A document can be

made up of multiple URLs that contain similar content, including different language
versions, if they are properly marked. URLs from other domains are also sorted here.
All the signals from these URLs are applied via the common DocID.

For duplicate content, Google selects the canonical version, which appears in search
rankings. This also explains why other URLs may sometimes rank similarly; the
determination of the “original” (canonical) URL can change over time.

Figure 1: Alexandria collects URLs for a document.

As there is only this one version of our document on the web, it is given its own
DocID.

Individual segments of our site are searched for relevant keyword phrases and
pushed into the search index. There, the “hit list” (all the important words on the page)
[Link] 4/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

is first sent to the direct index, which summarizes the keywords that occur multiple
times per page.

Now an important step takes place. The individual keyword phrases are integrated
into the word catalog of the inverted index (word index). The word pencil and all
important documents containing this word are already listed there.

In simple terms, as our document prominently contains the word pencil multiple
times, it is now listed in the word index with its DocID under the entry “pencil.”

The DocID is assigned an algorithmically calculated IR (information retrieval) score

for pencil, later used for inclusion in the Posting List. In our document, for example,
the word pencil has been marked in bold in the text and is contained in H1 (stored in
AvrTermWeight). Such and other signals increase the IR score.

Google moves documents considered important to the so-called HiveMind, i.e., the
main memory. Google uses both fast SSDs and conventional HDDs (referred to as
TeraGoogle) for long-term storage of information that doesn’t require quick access.
Documents and signals are stored in the main memory.

Notably, experts estimate that before the recent AI boom, about half of the world’s
web servers were housed at Google. A vast network of interconnected clusters allows
millions of main memory units to work together. A Google engineer once noted at a
conference that, in theory, Google’s main memory could store the entire web.

Are You Ranking #1?

Instantly check your keyword performance with one click.

Enter domain Check

Powered by data from

It’s interesting to note that links, including backlinks, stored in HiveMind seem to carry
significantly more weight. For example, links from important documents are given
much greater importance, while links from URLs in TeraGoogle (HDD) may be
weighted less or possibly not considered at all.

Hint: Provide your documents with plausible and consistent date values.
BylineDate (date in the source code), syntaticDate (extracted date from URL
[Link] 5/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

and/or title) and semanticDate (taken from the readable content) are used,
among others.
Faking topicality by changing the date can certainly lead to downranking
(demotion). The lastSignificantUpdate attribute records when the last significant
change was made to a document. Fixing minor details or typos does not affect
this counter.

Additional information and signals for each DocID are stored dynamically in the
repository (PerDocData). Many systems access this later when it comes to fine-tuning
relevance. It is useful to know that the last 20 versions of a document are stored
there (via CrawlerChangerateURLHistory).

Google has the ability to evaluate and assess changes over time. If you want to
completely change the content or topic of a document, you would theoretically need
to create 20 intermediate versions to override the old content signals. This is why
reviving an expired domain (a domain that was previously active but has since been
abandoned or sold, perhaps due to insolvency) does not offer any ranking advantage.

If a domain’s Admin-C changes and its thematic content changes at the same time, a
machine can easily recognize this at this point. Google then sets all signals to zero,
and the supposedly valuable old domain no longer offers any advantages over a
completely newly registered domain.

[Link] 6/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Figure 2: In addition to the leaks, the evidence documents from hearings and trials of the
U.S. judiciary against Google are a useful source for research. You can even find internal
emails there.
QBST: Someone is looking for ‘pencil’
When someone enters “pencil” as a search term in Google, QBST begins its work. The
search phrase is analyzed, and if it contains multiple words, the relevant ones are
sent to the word index for retrieval.

The process of term weighting is quite complex, involving systems like RankBrain,
DeepRank (formerly BERT) and RankEmbeddedBERT. The relevant terms, such as
“pencil,” are then passed on to the Ascorer for further processing.

Ascorer: The ‘green ring’ is created

The Ascorer retrieves the top 1,000 DocIDs for “pencil” from the inverted index, ranked
by IR score. According to internal documents, this list is referred to as a “green ring.”
Within the industry, it is known as a posting list.

The Ascorer is part of a ranking system known as Mustang, where further filtering
occurs through methods such as deduplication using SimHash (a type of document
fingerprint), passage analysis, systems for recognizing original and helpful content,
etc. The goal is to refine the 1,000 candidates down to the “10 blue links” or the “blue
ring.”

Our document about pencils is on the posting list, currently ranked at 132. Without
additional systems, this would be its final position.

Superroot: Turn 1,000 into 10!

The Superroot system is responsible for re-ranking, carrying out the precision work of
reducing the “green ring” (1,000 DocIDs) to the “blue ring” with only 10 results.

Twiddlers and NavBoost perform this task. Other systems are probably in use here,
but their exact details are unclear due to vague information.

[Link] 7/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Figure 3: Mustang generates 1,000 potential results and Superroot filters them down to 10
results.
Google Caffeine no longer exists in this form. Only the name has remained.
Google now works with countless micro-services that communicate with each
other and generate attributes for documents that are used as signals by a wide
variety of ranking and re-ranking systems and with which the neural networks are
trained to make predictions.

Filter after filter: The Twiddlers

Various documents indicate that several hundred Twiddler systems are in use. Think
of a Twiddler as a plug-in similar to those in WordPress.

Each Twiddler has its own specific filter target. They are designed this way because
they are relatively easy to create and don’t require changes to the complex ranking
algorithms in Ascorer.

Modifying these algorithms is challenging and would involve extensive planning and
programming due to potential side effects. In contrast, Twiddlers operate in parallel or
sequentially and are unaware of the activities of other Twiddlers.

There are basically two types of Twiddlers.

PreDoc Twiddlers can work with the entire set of several hundred DocIDs
because they require little or no additional information.
In contrast, Twiddlers of the “Lazy” type require more information, for example,
from the PerDocData database. This takes correspondingly longer and is more
complex.
[Link] 8/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

For this reason, the PreDocs first reduce the posting list to significantly fewer entries
and then start with slower filters. This saves an enormous amount of computing
capacity and time.

Some Twiddlers adjust the IR score, either positively or negatively, while others
modify the ranking position directly. Since our document is new to the index, a
Twiddler designed to give recent documents a better chance of ranking might, for
instance, multiply the IR score by a factor of 1.7. This adjustment could move our
document from the 132nd place to the 81st place.

Another Twiddler enhances diversity (strideCategory) in the SERPs by devaluing

documents with similar content. As a result, several documents ahead of us lose their
positions, allowing our pencil document to move up 12 spots to 69. Additionally, a
Twiddler that limits the number of blog pages to three for specific queries boosts our
ranking to 61.

Figure 4: Two types of Twiddlers – over 100 of them reduce the potential
search results and re-sort them.
Our page received a zero (for “Yes”) for the CommercialScore attribute. The Mustang
system identified a sales intention during analysis. Google likely knows that searches
for “pencil” are frequently followed by refined searches like “buy pencil,” indicating a
commercial or transactional intent. A Twiddler designed to account for this search
intent adds relevant results and boosts our page by 20 positions, moving us up to 41.

Another Twiddler comes into play, enforcing a “page three penalty” that limits pages
suspected of being spam to a maximum rank of 31 (Page 3). The best position for a
document is defined by the BadURL-demoteindex attribute, which prevents ranking

[Link] 9/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

above this threshold. Attributes like DemoteForContent, DemoteForForwardlinks and

DemoteForBacklinks are used for this purpose. As a result, three documents above us
are demoted, allowing our page to move up to Position 38.

Our document could have been devalued, but to keep things simple, we’ll assume it
remains unaffected. Let’s consider one last Twiddler that assesses how relevant our
pencil page is to our domain based on embeddings. Since our site focuses
exclusively on writing instruments, this works to our advantage and negatively
impacts 24 other documents.

For instance, imagine a price comparison site with a diverse range of topics but with
one “good” page about pencils. Because this page’s topic differs significantly from the
site’s overall focus, it would be devalued by this Twiddler.

Attributes like siteFocusScore and siteRadius reflect this thematic distance. As a

result, our IR score is boosted once more, and other results are downgraded, moving
us up to Position 14.

As mentioned, Twiddlers serve a wide range of purposes. Developers can experiment

with new filters, multipliers or specific position restrictions. It’s even possible to rank a
result specifically either in front of or behind another result.

One of Google’s leaked internal documents warns that certain Twiddler features
should only be used by experts and after consulting with the core search team.

“If you think you understand how they work, trust us: you don’t. We’re not sure that
we do either.”

– Leaked “Twiddler Quick Start Guide – Superroot” document

There are also Twiddlers that only create annotations and add these to the DocID on
the way to the SERP. An image then appears in the snippet, for example, or the title
and/or description are dynamically rewritten later.

If you wondered during the pandemic why your country’s national health authority
(such as the Department of Health and Human Services in the U.S.) consistently
ranked first in COVID-19 searches, it was due to a Twiddler that boosts official
resources based on language and country using queriesForWhichOfficial.

You have little control over how Twiddler reorders your results, but understanding its
mechanisms can help you better interpret ranking fluctuations or “inexplicable
rankings.” It’s valuable to regularly review SERPs and note the types of results.

[Link] 10/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

For example, do you consistently see only a certain number of forum or blog posts,
even with different search phrases? How many results are transactional,
informational, or navigational? Are the same domains repeatedly appearing, or do
they vary with slight changes in the search phrase?

If you notice that only a few online stores are included in the results, it might be less
effective to try ranking with a similar site. Instead, consider focusing on more
information-oriented content. However, don’t jump to conclusions just yet, as the
NavBoost system will be discussed later.

Google’s quality raters and RankLab

Several thousand quality raters work for Google worldwide to evaluate certain search
results and test new algorithms and/or filters before they go “live.”

Google explains, “Their ratings don’t directly influence ranking.”

This is essentially correct, but these votes do have a significant indirect impact on
rankings.

Here’s how it works: Raters receive URLs or search phrases (search results) from the
system and answer predetermined questions, typically assessed on mobile devices.

For example, they might be asked, “Is it clear who wrote this content and when? Does
the author have professional expertise on this topic?” The answers to these questions
are stored and used to train machine learning algorithms. These algorithms analyze
the characteristics of good and trustworthy pages versus less reliable ones.

This approach means that instead of relying on Google search team members to
create criteria for ranking, algorithms use deep learning to identify patterns based on
the training provided by human evaluators.

Let’s consider a thought experiment to illustrate this. Imagine people intuitively rate a
piece of content as trustworthy if it includes an author’s picture, full name, and a
LinkedIn biography link. Pages lacking these features are perceived as less
trustworthy.

If a neural network is trained on various page features alongside these “Yes” or “No”
ratings, it will identify this characteristic as a key factor. After several positive test
runs, which typically last at least 30 days, the network might start using this feature
as a ranking signal. As a result, pages with an author image, full name, and LinkedIn
link might receive a ranking boost, potentially through a Twiddler, while pages without
these features could be devalued.

[Link] 11/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Google’s official stance of not focusing on authors could align with this scenario.
However, leaked information reveals attributes like isAuthor and concepts such as
“author fingerprinting” through the AuthorVectors attribute, which makes the idiolect
(the individual use of terms and formulations) of an author distinguishable or
identifiable – again via embeddings.

Raters’ evaluations are compiled into an “information satisfaction” (IS) score.

Although many raters contribute, an IS score is only available for a small fraction of
URLs. For other pages with similar patterns, this score is extrapolated for ranking
purposes.

Google notes, “A lot of documents have no clicks but can be important.” When
extrapolation isn’t possible, the system automatically sends the document to raters to
generate a score.

The term “golden” is mentioned in relation to quality raters, suggesting there might be
a gold standard for certain documents or document types. It can be inferred that
aligning with the expectations of human testers could help your document meet this
gold standard. Additionally, it’s likely that one or more Twiddlers might provide a
significant boost to DocIDs deemed “golden,” potentially pushing them into the top 10.

Quality raters are typically not full-time Google employees and may work through
external companies. In contrast, Google’s own experts operate within the RankLab,
where they conduct experiments, develop new Twiddlers and evaluate whether these
or refined Twiddlers improve result quality or merely filter out spam.

Proven and effective Twiddlers are then integrated into the Mustang system, where
complex, computationally intensive and interconnected algorithms are used.

Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.

Enter your email here. Sign me up!

See terms.

But what do users want? NavBoost can fix that!

Our pencil document hasn’t fully succeeded yet. Within Superroot, another core
system, NavBoost, plays a significant role in determining the order of search results.
NavBoost uses “slices” to manage different data sets for mobile, desktop, and local
searches.

[Link] 12/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Although Google has officially denied using user clicks for ranking purposes, FTC
documents reveal an internal email instructing that the handling of click data must
remain confidential.

This shouldn’t be held against Google, as the denial of using click data involves two
key aspects. Firstly, acknowledging the use of click data could provoke media outrage
over privacy concerns, portraying Google as a “data octopus” tracking our online
activity. However, the intent behind using click data is to obtain statistically relevant
metrics, not to monitor individual users. While data protection advocates might view
this differently, this perspective helps explain the denial.

FTC documents confirm that click data is used for ranking purposes and frequently
mention the NavBoost system in this context (54 times in the April 18, 2023 hearing).
An official hearing in 2012 also revealed that click data influences rankings.

Figure 5: Since August 2012 (!), it was officially clear that click data changes the ranking.
It has been established that both click behavior on search results and traffic on
websites or webpages impact rankings. Google can easily evaluate search behavior,
including searches, clicks, repeat searches and repeat clicks, directly within the
SERPs.

There has been speculation that Google could infer domain movement data from
Google Analytics, leading some to avoid using this system. However, this theory has
limitations.

First, Google Analytics does not provide access to all transaction data for a domain.
More importantly, with over 60% of people using the Google Chrome browser (over
three billion users), Google collects data on a substantial portion of web activity.

[Link] 13/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

This makes Chrome a crucial component in analyzing web movements, as

highlighted in hearings. Additionally, Core Web Vitals signals are officially collected
through Chrome and aggregated into the “chromeInTotal” value.

The negative publicity associated with “monitoring” is one reason for the denial, while
another is the concern that evaluating click and movement data could encourage
spammers and tricksters to fabricate traffic using bot systems to manipulate
rankings. While the denial might be frustrating, the underlying reasons are at least
understandable.

Some of the metrics that are stored include badClicks and goodClicks. The length
of time a searcher stays on the target page and the information on how many
other pages they view there and at what time (Chrome data) are most likely
included in this evaluation.
A short detour to a search result and a quick return to the search results and
further clicks on other results can increase the number of bad clicks. The search
result that had the last “good” click in a search session is recorded as the
lastLongestClick.
The data is squashed (i.e., condensed), so that it is statistically normalized and
less susceptible to manipulation.
If a page, a cluster of pages or the start page of a domain generally has good
visitor metrics (Chrome data), this has a positive effect via NavBoost. By
analyzing movement patterns within a domain or across domains, it is even
possible to determine how good the user guidance is via the navigation.
Since Google measures entire search sessions, it is theoretically even possible in
extreme cases to recognize that a completely different document is considered
suitable for a search query. If a searcher leaves the domain that they clicked on in
the search result within a search and goes to another domain (because it may
even have been linked from there) and remains there as the recognizable end of
the search, this “end” document could be flushed to the front via NavBoost in the
future, provided it is available in the selection ring set. However, this would require
a strong statistically relevant signal from many searchers.

Let’s first examine clicks in search results. Each ranking position in the SERPs has an
average expected click-through rate (CTR), serving as a performance benchmark. For
example, according to an analysis by Johannes Beus presented at this year’s
CAMPIXX in Berlin, the organic Position 1 receives an average of 26.2% of clicks,
while Position 2 gets 15.5%.

If a snippet’s actual CTR significantly falls short of the expected rate, the NavBoost
system registers this discrepancy and adjusts the ranking of the DocIDs accordingly.

[Link] 14/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

If a result historically generates significantly more or fewer clicks than expected,

NavBoost will move the document up or down in the rankings as needed (see Figure
6).

This approach makes sense because clicks essentially represent a vote from users
on the relevance of a result based on the title, description and domain. This concept
is even detailed in official documents, as illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 6: If the “expected_CRT deviates significantly from the actual value, the rankings are
adjusted accordingly. (Datasource: J. Beus, SISTRIX, with editorial overlays)

[Link] 15/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Figure 7: Slide from a Google presentation (Source: Trial Exhibit – UPX0228, U.S. and
Plaintiff States v. Google LLC)
Since our pencil document is still new, there are no available CTR values yet. It’s
unclear whether CTR deviations are ignored for documents with no data, but this
seems likely, as the goal is to incorporate user feedback. Alternatively, the CTR might
initially be estimated based on other values, similar to how the quality factor is
handled in Google Ads.

SEO experts and data analysts have long reported that they have noticed the
following phenomenon when comprehensively monitoring their own click-through
rates: If a document for a search query newly appears in the top 10 and the CTR
falls significantly short of expectations, you can observe a drop in ranking within
a few days (depending on the search volume).
Conversely, the ranking often rises if the CTR is significantly higher in relation to
the rank. You only have a short time to react and adjust the snippet if the CTR is
poor (usually by optimizing the title and description) so that more clicks are
collected. Otherwise, the position deteriorates and is subsequently not so easy to
regain. Tests are thought to be behind this phenomenon. If a document proves
itself, it can stay. If searchers don’t like it, it disappears again. Whether this is
actually related to NavBoost is neither clear nor conclusively provable.

Based on the leaked information, it appears that Google uses extensive data from a
page’s “environment” to estimate signals for new, unknown pages.

[Link] 16/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

For instance, NearestSeedversion suggests that the PageRank of the home page
HomePageRank_NS is transferred to new pages until they develop their own
PageRank. Additionally, pnavClicks seems to be used to estimate and assign the
probability of clicks through navigation.

Calculating and updating PageRank is time-consuming and computationally

intensive, which is why the PageRank_NS metric is likely used instead. “NS” stands for
“nearest seed,” meaning that a set of related pages shares a PageRank value, which is
temporarily or permanently applied to new pages.

It’s probable that values from neighboring pages are also used for other critical
signals, helping new pages climb the rankings despite lacking significant traffic or
backlinks. Many signals are not attributed in real-time but may involve a notable
delay.

Google itself set a good example of freshness during a hearing. For example, if
you search for “Stanley Cup,” the search results typically feature the famous mug.
However, when the Stanley Cup ice hockey games are actively taking place,
NavBoost adjusts the results to prioritize information about the games, reflecting
changes in search and click behavior.
Freshness does not refer to new (i.e., “fresh”) documents but to changes in
search behavior. According to Google, there are over a billion (that’s not a typo)
new behaviors in the SERPs every day! So every search and every click
contributes to Google’s learning. The assumption that Google knows everything
about seasonality is probably not correct. Google recognizes fine-grained
changes in search intentions and constantly adapts the system – which creates
the illusion that Google actually “understands” what searchers want.

The click metrics for documents are apparently stored and evaluated over a period of
13 months (one month overlap in the year for comparisons with the previous year),
according to the latest findings.

Since our hypothetical domain has strong visitor metrics and substantial direct traffic
from advertising, as a well-known brand (which is a positive signal), our new pencil
document benefits from the favorable signals of older, successful pages.

As a result, NavBoost elevates our ranking from 14th to 5th place, placing us in the
“blue ring” or top 10. This top 10 list, including our document, is then forwarded to the
Google Web Server along with the other nine organic results.

Contrary to expectations, Google does not actually deliver many personalized

search results. Tests have probably shown that modeling user behavior and

[Link] 17/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

making changes to it delivers better results than evaluating the personal

preferences of individual users.
This is remarkable. The prediction via neural networks is now better suited to us
than our own surfing and clicking history. However, individual preferences, such
as a preference for video content, are still included in the personal results.

The GWS: Where everything comes to an end and a new

beginning
The Google Web Server (GWS) is responsible for assembling and delivering the
search results page (SERP). This includes 10 blue links, along with ads, images,
Google Maps views, “People also ask” sections and other elements.

The Tangram system handles geometric space optimization, calculating how much
space each element requires and how many results fit into the available “boxes.” The
Glue system then arranges these elements in their proper places.

Our pencil document, currently in 5th place, is part of the organic results. However,
the CookBook system can intervene at the last moment. This system includes
FreshnessNode, InstantGlue (reacts in periods of 24 hours with a delay of around 10
minutes) and InstantNavBoost. These components generate additional signals related
to topicality and can adjust rankings in the final moments before the page is
displayed.

Let’s say a German TV program about 250 years of Faber-Castell and the myths
surrounding the word “pencil” begins to air. Within minutes, thousands of viewers
grab their smartphones or tablets to search online. This is a typical scenario.
FreshnessNode detects the surge in searches for “pencil” and, noting that users are
seeking information rather than making purchases, adjusts the rankings accordingly.

In this exceptional situation, InstantNavBoost removes all transactional results and

replaces them with informational ones in real time. InstantGlue then updates the “blue
ring,” causing our previously sales-oriented document to drop out of the top rankings
and be replaced by more relevant results.

[Link] 18/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Figure 8: A television program on the origins of the word “pencil” to celebrate 250 years of
Faber-Castell, a well-known German pencil manufacturer.
Unfortunate as it may be, this hypothetical end to our ranking journey illustrates an
important point: achieving a high ranking isn’t solely about having a great document
or implementing the right SEO measures with high-quality content.

Rankings can be influenced by a variety of factors, including changes in search

behavior, new signals for other documents and evolving circumstances. Therefore, it’s
crucial to recognize that having an excellent document and doing a good job with
SEO is just one part of a broader and more dynamic ranking landscape.

The process of compiling search results is extremely complex, influenced by

thousands of signals. With numerous tests conducted live by SearchLab using
Twiddler, even backlinks to your documents can be affected.

These documents might be moved from HiveMind to less critical levels, such as
SSDs or even TeraGoogle, which can weaken or eliminate their impact on rankings.
This can shift ranking scales even if nothing has changed with your own document.

Google’s John Mueller has emphasized that a drop in ranking often doesn’t mean
you’ve done anything wrong. Changes in user behavior or other factors can alter how
results perform.

For instance, if searchers start preferring more detailed information and shorter texts
over time, NavBoost will automatically adjust rankings accordingly. However, the IR
score in the Alexandria system or Ascorer remains unchanged.

One key takeaway is that SEO must be understood in a broader context. Optimizing
titles or content won’t be effective if a document and its search intent don’t align.

[Link] 19/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

The impact of Twiddlers and NavBoost on rankings can often outweigh traditional on-
page, on-site or off-site optimizations. If these systems limit a document’s visibility,
additional on-page improvements will have minimal effect.

However, our journey doesn’t end on a low note. The impact of the TV program about
pencils is temporary. Once the search surge subsides, FreshnessNode will no longer
affect our ranking, and we’ll settle back at 5th place.

As we restart the cycle of collecting click data, a CTR of around 4% is expected for
Position 5 (based on Johannes Beus from SISTRIX). If we can maintain this CTR, we
can anticipate staying in the top ten. All will be well.

Key SEO takeaways

Diversify traffic sources: Ensure you receive traffic from various sources, not just
search engines. Traffic from less obvious channels, like social media platforms, is
also valuable. Even if Google’s crawler can’t access certain pages, Google can still
track how many visitors come to your site through platforms like Chrome or
direct URLs.
Build brand and domain awareness: Always work on strengthening your brand or
domain name recognition. The more familiar people are with your name, the
more likely they are to click on your site in search results. Ranking for many long-
tail keywords can also boost your domain’s visibility. Leaks suggest that “site
authority” is a ranking signal, so building your brand’s reputation can help improve
your search rankings.
Understand search intent: To better meet your visitors’ needs, try to understand
their search intent and journey. Use tools like Semrush or SimilarWeb to see
where your visitors come from and where they go after visiting your site. Analyze
these domains – do they offer information that your landing pages lack?
Gradually add this missing content to become the “final destination” in your
visitors’ search journey. Remember, Google tracks related search sessions and
knows precisely what searchers are looking for and where they’ve been
searching.
Optimize your titles and descriptions to improve CTR: Start by reviewing your
current CTR and making adjustments to enhance click appeal. Capitalizing a few
important words can help them stand out visually, potentially boosting CTR; test
this approach to see if it works for you. The title plays a critical role in determining
whether your page ranks well for a search phrase, so optimizing it should be a top
priority.
Evaluate hidden content: If you use accordions to “hide” important content that
requires a click to reveal, check if these pages have a higher-than-average bounce

[Link] 20/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

rate. When searchers can’t immediately see they’re in the right place and need to
click multiple times, the likelihood of negative click signals increases.
Remove underperforming pages: Pages that nobody visits (web analytics) or that
do not achieve a good ranking over longer periods of time should be removed if
necessary. Bad signals are also passed on to neighboring pages! If you publish a
new document in a “bad” page cluster, the new page has few chances.
“deltaPageQuality” apparently actually measures the qualitative difference
between individual documents in a domain or cluster.
Enhance page structure: A clear page structure, easy navigation and a strong first
impression are essential for achieving top rankings, often thanks to NavBoost.
Maximize engagement: The longer visitors stay on your site, the better the
signals your domain sends, which benefits all of your subpages. Aim to be the
final destination by providing all the information they need so visitors won’t have
to search elsewhere.
Expand existing content rather than constantly creating new ones: Updating and
enhancing your current content can be more effective. ContentEffortScore
measures the effort put into creating a document, with factors like high-quality
images, videos, tools and unique content all contributing to this important signal.
Align your headings with the content they introduce: Ensure that (intermediate)
headings accurately reflect the text blocks that follow. Thematic analysis, using
techniques like embeddings (text vectorization), is more effective at identifying
whether headings and content match correctly compared to purely lexical
methods.
Utilize web analytics: Tools like Google Analytics lets you track visitor
engagement effectively and identify and address any gaps. Pay particular
attention to the bounce rate of your landing pages. If it’s too high, investigate
potential causes and take corrective actions. Remember, Google can access this
data through the Chrome browser.
Target less competitive keywords: You can also focus on ranking well for less
competitive keywords first and thus more easily build up positive user signals.
Cultivate quality backlinks: Focus on links from recent or high-traffic pages
stored in HiveMind, as these provide more valuable signals. Links from pages
with little traffic or engagement are less effective. Additionally, backlinks from
pages within the same country and those with thematic relevance to your content
are more beneficial. Be aware that “toxic” backlinks, which negatively impact your
score, do exist and should be avoided.
Pay attention to the context surrounding links: The text before and after a link,
not just the anchor text itself, are considered for ranking. Make sure the text
naturally flows around the link. Avoid using generic phrases like “click here,” which
has been ineffective for over twenty years.
[Link] 21/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Take note of the Disavow tool’s limitations: The Disavow tool, used to invalidate
bad links, is not mentioned in the leak at all. It seems that algorithms do not
consider it, and it serves mainly a documentary purpose for spam fighters.
Consider author expertise: If you use author references, ensure they are also
recognized on other websites and demonstrate relevant expertise. Having fewer
but highly qualified authors is better than having many less credible ones.
According to a patent, Google can assess content based on the author’s
expertise, distinguishing between experts and laypeople.
Create exclusive, helpful, comprehensive and well-structured content: This is
especially important for key pages. Demonstrate your genuine expertise on the
topic and, if possible, provide evidence of it. While it’s easy to have someone write
content just to have something on the page, setting high ranking expectations
without real quality and expertise may not be realistic.

A version of this article was originally published in German in August 2024 in Website
Boosting, Issue 87.

Topics on this page

BERLIN FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION GERMAN LANGUAGE GOOGLE GOOGLE ADS

+19 MORE

Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and
contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and
contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush.
Contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of Semrush. The opinions they express are
their own.

About the Author 

Mario Fischer
Mario Fischer studied economics, specializing in business informatics and
communication science. He then founded a consulting and software
company. At the same time, he completed an external doctorate at the
Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 1998, he was
appointed
… [Read more]

[Link] 22/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Related Articles

SEO
Top Stories roll out in Google AI
Overviews

Barry Schwartz

SEO
Google says AI Search features send
billions of clicks to websites each week

Barry Schwartz

SEO
How to report SEO results executives
actually care about

Kelly-Anne Crean

Webinars

Beyond Navigation: Advanced Architecture and AI

Webflow AEO: From insight to action, at scale
2026 CX Trends Shaping Customer Trust and
Personalization

View all Webinars

Intelligence Reports
[Link] 23/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works

Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms: A

Marketer’s Guide
Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
Identity Resolution Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
View all Intelligence Reports

White Papers

Closing the Franchise Gap: Local Marketing in the

Age of AI
Life on the Edge: Thriving at the frontier of human
& artificial intelligence
How top brands are shifting from platform
inflation to real revenue impact.

View all White Papers

FREE DAILY
Get the newsletter 60k+ search marketers
rely on.

Enter your email here. Sign me up!

[Link] 24/25
20/07/2026, 08:55 How Google Search ranking works
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Find Your SEO Issues in 30 Seconds

Free technical audit shows what's blocking your search visibility.

Enter domain or URL

Audit My Site
Powered by Semrush • Try TechCrunch

Topics Our events Semrush

SEO Search Marketing Expo - Semrush coupon

PPC SMX Semrush offer
Platforms MarTech
All topics

About Follow us

About us  Facebook
Contact  X (formerly Twitter)
Privacy  LinkedIn
Terms  Newsletters
AI policy  RSS
Marketing opportunities  YouTube
Staff

© 2026 Search Engine Land is a Trademark of Semrush Inc.

Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and
produces events, including SMX. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land, the
leading digital publication covering the latest search engine optimization (SEO)
and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing news, trends and advice. The company
headquarters is 800 Boylston Street, Suite 2475, Boston, MA USA 02199.

[Link] 25/25