Google’s top 3 search ranking factors

In 2016, Google’s Andrey Lipattsev revealed that links, content and RankBrain were the top three ranking signals in Google’s search algorithm.

RankBrain was the third most important ranking factor. Google told us so in 2015.

As for the other two? Lipattsev revealed them during a Q&A and said: “I can tell you what they are. It is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.”

Read about it in Now we know: Here are Google’s top 3 search ranking factors.

Also on this day

Google Maps blocked 100 million abusive business profile edits in 2021

2022: Less than 1% of the content viewed on Google Maps was fraudulent or abusive, Google said.

Google Search adds booking and appointment availability for healthcare providers

2022: This was a pilot with a limited number of providers, including MinuteClinic at CVS.

Twitter adds keyword search to Direct Messages

2022: Twitter announced it was giving users a long-requested feature – the ability to search the direct messages (DM) inbox by keyword.

Google announces global launch of property promotion ads for hotels

2021: Property promotion ads helped hotels capture demand from users looking for places to stay.

Microsoft Advertising blocks 1.6 billion ads while dealing with the pandemic, says annual ad quality review

2021: Microsoft said it was committed to keeping the ads in Microsoft Bing fair and in compliance with its ad policies.

Summer Olympics postponement further shakes 2020 ad spending expectations

2020: The postponement would impact digital as well as TV ad spending plans.

Winners and losers: How COVID-19 is affecting search behavior

2020: Social distancing resulted in wild click behavior swings across sectors including grocers, productivity tools, restaurants and hotels.

Yelp announces fundraising partnership with GoFundMe to support local businesses

2020: Donate buttons appeared on profiles in selected categories by default.

Bing Ads Editor now supports Enhanced CPC, exports to create expanded text ads

2017: Version 11.9 offered support for Enhanced CPC bidding and the ability to export standard text ads to a spreadsheet formatted for enhanced text ads.

Search in Pics: Google aquarium bathtub room, hanging bubbles & sports court

2017: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more.

French privacy regulator fines Google for not removing RTBF links outside of Europe

2016: CNIL in France refused to compromise on its demand for Google to remove all Right to Be Forgotten content from its entire index.

YouTube reports 224% jump in refugee-related searches since start of elections

2016: Refugee, immigration, gun control, economy and health care-related searches on YouTube had risen during the past year.

Bing May Remove Navigation To Additional Search Result Pages

2015: Bing was so confident in some of their search results that they would remove the pagination to additional search result pages.

Yahoo Asking Firefox Users To Make Yahoo Search Their Default Search Engine

2015: After Yahoo lost some Firefox users to Google, Yahoo began notifying these users to switch back to Yahoo Search as their default search provider.

Google Slaps Greek Sites With Penalties

2014: Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, responded on Twitter to someone who noticed that many websites in Greece received penalties.

Nearly A Year Later, Google’s Penalty Notices Remain Confusing

2014: Notifications continued to be confusing when they should have been getting easier to understand.

Google’s Matt Cutts: Determining If Your Site Ranking Is Result Of A Penalty Is “Tricky”

2014: Cutts answers: How can you tell if your site is suffering from an algorithmic penalty, or you are simply being outgunned by better content?

Google Now Comes To Chrome For Desktops & Laptops

2014: It had only been available through mobile devices or to those using beta versions of Chrome.

New Google Search App Feature Creates Radio Station Based On Recently Played Music

2014: Saying “Play some music” after tapping the Google search mic or saying “Ok Google” would prompt the app to create an “I’m feeling lucky” radio station.

Quora Kicks Off Verified Profiles With Spotlight On President Barack Obama

2014: Quora announced new Verified Profiles, adding a checkmark to profile pictures of public figures and writers deemed worthy by the site.

Open Letter To EU Competition Commissioner Exerts Pressure For Tougher “Vertical Search” Settlement With Google

2013: Letter asserts that the EU must address “Google’s search manipulation practices” in the form of “the systematic promotion of Google’s own services, and the systematic demotion or exclusion of its competitors’ services.”

Wait… Google Banned BeatThatQuote Again!

2011: To recap: Google bought a website, penalized it a day later, then removed the penalty two weeks later and now a day after the penalty was removed, they penalized it again!

New Reports Aim To Add Value To AdWords Campaign Experiments

2011: Google provided new reporting for its AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE), which allowed advertisers to test keyword, bids, placements and other variables.

Google Wants TV Show Owners To Start Tagging Video

2011: Google encouraged TV show owners/providers to begin tagging their online videos with several new fields that could be used in both video sitemaps and mRSS feeds.

Google Morphs AdWords Offering For Major Motion Picture Studios

2011: Google announced a new version of AdWords called Media Ads, aimed initially at marketers of major motion pictures with new releases.

Report: Google Most Valuable Brand Of 2011

2011: Brand Finance said, “the world’s increasing dependence on the internet is reflected by Google’s position at no. 1.” 

Italians Issue Another Dubious Anti-Search Decision

2011: Yahoo (in its capacity as a search engine) was found liable for helping facilitate copyright infringement by indexing and linking to sites that allowed the unauthorized download of an Iranian film.

Everyone Wants A Piece Of Google: More Antitrust Saber-Rattling By States Attorneys General

2011: Ohio was the latest considering an antitrust investigation against Google, joining Wisconsin and Texas.

Google Settles & Wins Lawsuit Against ‘Google Cash’ Scammers

2011: Google won a $1.6 million settlement against five defendants that it sued in December 2009 over the use of Google’s name in what the company called “a widespread Internet advertising scam.”

Official: Facebook Not Testing Web Search Box, Says Malware Might Be To Blame

2011: A Facebook spokesperson said a second search box was not a Facebook test and was likely caused by some third-party action or tool.

“Anti-Search Engine” FindTheBest Adds Buying Guides, Top 10 Slideshows

Year: There was a “consumer reports”-like angle here except that the content was from a range of third-party sources and all free.

European Advocate General Finds Against Trademark Bidding in Interflora Case

2011: The European Advocate General recommended that the Court of Justice of the European Union rule against retailer Marks & Spencer for bidding on the trademarked terms of the flower delivery network company.

The Yahoo Search Direct Alphabet: Where Every Letter Starts With Yahoo

2011: In Yahoo’s Search Direct feature, 21 of the 26 one-letter alphabet queries showed a Yahoo property as the first “answer.”

Google Gains Try Again Button For Discussion Results

2010: Google said it was “meant to give users who click on a result, visit a web page, then click back, the opportunity to discover more information of that same type.”

Google Maps Finally Welcome To Home-Based & Service-Based Businesses

2010: A Google spokesperson called it a limited test, though “many” business owners were able to see the new options.

So Now Google Thinks Everyone Should Care About Chinese Censorship?

2010: Google’s Sergey Brin wanted the US government to make fighting Chinese censorship a high priority and was disappointed with Microsoft for continuing to censor.

Google’s Lobbying Spend Up 1,500% Since 2005

2010: Google’s spend on lobbying went from $260,000 in 2005 to more than $4 million in 2009.

Google Bookmarks Lists

2010: Google updated Google Bookmarks to allow you to create lists and share those bookmark lists with others.

Bing Offers Free T-Shirts … For Your Xbox Avatar

2010: They took their Bing promotional efforts inside Microsoft’s own Xbox gaming platform with free codes that let Xbox Live users outfit their avatars in Bing T-shirts.

SES New York 2010 Day Two Coverage

Google Insights For Search Adds Valuable New Features

2009: New data sources, category suggestions and U.S. metros.

Google Implements ‘Orion’ Technology, Improves Search Refinements & Adds Longer Snippets

2009: Refinements were improved and would appear more frequently, and more often, at the top of pages.

Microsoft Taking On Google Street View With “GeoSynth”?

2009: Microsoft was planning to compete more aggressively with Google StreetView by soliciting user-generated photos and then geotagging and Photosynthing them.

Search Veteran Gerry Campbell Becomes CEO Of “Real-Time” Search Engine Collecta

2009: Campbell was at Alta Vista and later spent several years in the search unit of AOL.

BioNumbers – Specialty Biology Answer Search Engine

2009: BioNumbers was a collection of common biological numbers that was useful for scientists and researchers.

Google Deemphasizes Search In Experimental Mobile Interface

2008: Google quietly introduced a new, experimental mobile interface called “LCB” that emphasized browsing instead of search.

Google AdWords Officially Launches Demographic Bidding? Maybe Not

2008: Demographic bidding allowed advertisers to show their ads to specific age groups and genders.

Google News Makes Commenting More Visible

2008: Google added a link to the home page of Google News that says “Comments by People in the News” and made it easier to comment on an article.

Court: Use Of Trademark In AdWords Copy Is An Infringement

2008: One of the first times the plaintiff won in a case between advertisers over trademarks in search ads.

From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

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