TOC
- 1 Explanation by Matt Cutts, Google engineer, on how Google works
- 2 Google’s Own Explanation of How Google Works
- 3 Google’s Functioning in Phases
- 4 How Does the Google Search Engine Really Work in 2024?
- 5 The Internet Era
- 6 The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Google
- 7 The Future of Google Search
- 8 Sources Used to Write “How the Google Search Engine Works”
Explanation by Matt Cutts, Google engineer, on how Google works
Hello, my name is Matt Cutts. I am an engineer in the quality group at Google, and today I would like to talk about what happens when you do a web search. The first thing to understand is that when you search on Google, you are not searching the web, you are searching Google’s web index, or at least the pages that we have been able to find.
We do this with software programs called spiders. The spiders start by fetching a few web pages and then follow the links on those pages, fetching the pages they point to, following all the links on those pages, fetching the pages they link to, and so on until we have a large portion of the web indexed. Many billions of pages stored on thousands of machines.
Now suppose I want to know how fast a cheetah can run. I type my search and put in “cheetah”, “running”, and hit Enter. Our software searches the index to find all the pages that include those search terms. In this case, there are hundreds of thousands of possible results. How does Google decide which documents I really want to see?
By asking over 200 questions. How many times does this page contain your keywords? Do the words appear in the title, URL, directly in the content? Does the page include synonyms for those words? Is this page a high-quality website or low quality? Even spam? What is the PageRank of this page?
That is a formula invented by our founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that rates the relevance of a web page by the number of external links pointing to it and how important those links are.
Finally, we combine all those factors for each page to create the overall page score, and send you back the search results approximately half a second after your search.
At Google, we take our commitment to provide you with useful information and impartial search results very seriously. We never accept payments to add a site, update its index more often, or improve its ranking.
Let’s look at my search results. Each entry includes a title, a URL, and a snippet of text. To help me decide if this page is what I am looking for, I also see links to similar pages, the most recent cached version of that page on Google, and related searches that you might want to try next.
And sometimes to the right and at the top, you will see ads.
We take our advertising business very seriously, as well as our commitment to providing the best possible audience for advertisers, and we strive to show only ads that you really want to see.
We take great care to distinguish ads from normal search results, and we won’t show you any ads if we can’t find any that we think will help you find the information you are looking for. In this case, the top running speed of cheetahs is over 60 miles per hour.
Thank you for watching. I hope this has made Google a bit more understandable.
More information at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=majWEUOmSgE
JCB Digital Marketing Channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/JavierCarmonaBenitez
Google’s Own Explanation of How Google Works
More info in https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/
Google’s Functioning in Phases
The first thing to keep in mind is that when performing any search, the goal is to obtain useful information that is helpful. Therefore, the search engine’s operation is based on investigating relevant information within a large database, based on keywords that were entered from the start, and offering the results that best match that search.
To achieve this, the Google search engine uses a complex algorithm that the company has chosen not to reveal, but as we have seen in Matt Cutts’ previous video, we are “explained” in a very summarized manner the operation of the Google search engine.
In summary, when a search occurs, the Google search engine goes through three important phases.
First Phase: Spiders
1.1.- In the first phase, a software program known as “Spiders” comes into play, which carries out a crawl through the database on publicly accessible websites.
1.2.- Simply put, the spiders are responsible for exploring a group of freely accessible pages on the web, analyzing their content, and then following the links they contain, leading to other similar pages to continue exploring.
1.3.- After the software finishes crawling, Google provides all the collected information to now index the thousands of stored pages.
Second Phase: Storing and Sorting
2.1.- This is when the second phase of the search comes into play, which is responsible for storing the information and sorting the data into indexes.
This is why Matt Cutts states that when performing a search on Google, you are not actually searching the entire web but within Google’s search indexes. In other words, portals that have not been crawled by the spiders and indexed will not appear in the search results.
2.2.- Now, once the data is crawled and indexed, the next phase is to present the results that best fit the search.
There are thousands of results, so it is time to select those that are the most appropriate. Numerous criteria are taken into account, such as keywords, location, language, and the quality and popularity of the website.
The goal is always to show impartial results that are useful. Therefore, Google emphasizes that the order of the results is always determined by the algorithm.
How Does the Google Search Engine Really Work in 2024?
I have talked about Local SEO, Copywriting, how to create ranking content, the work of an SEO consultant, SEM, Inbound Marketing, and even SEO in Yandex. However, I had never written about the basics of Google. Today we are going to fix that and establish the foundations of ranking in the king of search engines.
Let’s get started!
The Internet Era
The advent of the internet has revolutionized countless aspects of our daily lives, marking a before and after and giving way to the so-called “knowledge era.” Over time, more and more people have gained access to the internet, facilitating access to global information.
According to the “Digital 2024 Global Overview Report” by DataReportal, prepared in collaboration with We Are Social and Meltwater, in 2024, the number of internet users has reached 5.35 billion, representing approximately 66% of the world’s population. This figure reflects significant growth since 2018, when 53% of the world’s population had access to the web. Although growth has slowed due to high penetration, there is still an annual increase in users accessing the internet for the first time.
In 2018, 53% of the world’s population had access to the internet. In 2024, this figure has grown to 5.35 billion people, equivalent to 66% of the world’s population.
Despite these advances, there are still approximately 2.7 billion people who do not have access to the internet, with a large concentration of these in regions such as Central Africa and some Asian countries. This digital divide highlights the ongoing need to improve infrastructure and accessibility in these areas.
Internet usage has also changed significantly. The average time users spend online has increased. In 2024, the typical user spends about 6 hours and 40 minutes a day on the internet. This increase in online time underscores the growing dependence on the web for various activities, from entertainment to information search and shopping.
Regarding search engines, Google remains the dominant platform. Most people turn to Google to start their web browsing, leveraging its ability to provide accurate and fast results. Google’s supremacy in the search engine market is due to its continued focus on improving user experience and the relevance of its results through constant updates and advancements in artificial intelligence.
This growth and evolution in internet usage have significant implications for businesses and SEO professionals, who must stay updated with trends and adapt to changes in user behavior and emerging technologies.
For more information on current digital trends and statistics, you can consult the full reports on DataReportal and Meltwater.
Source: https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/634462/cuota-de-mercado-mundial-de-los-motores-de-busqueda/
It is a fact that there are other search engines, like Yandex, the Russian search engine, but Google took the lead from the beginning and has established itself as the search engine par excellence, being the fastest and most accurate. However, despite millions of users using the Google search engine daily, do they really know how it works? The truth is that no one has all the answers, but today we are going to start from the beginning.
Many people overlook this type of question, but more and more users are wondering how it is possible that, within the vast amount of information the web possesses, the search engine finds exactly what is being searched for. Therefore, we will take the time to explain it as clearly and simply as possible below.
In simple terms, the Google search engine operates in three main phases: crawling, indexing, and retrieval.
Crawling
Crawling is the process by which Googlebot, Google’s crawling bot, scours the web for new and updated content. It uses a network of bots that visit and review web pages, following links from one page to another. Googlebot starts with a list of known URLs generated from previous crawls and sitemaps provided by webmasters. As it explores these pages, it adds new URLs to its list of pages to crawl. This process is continuous and carried out 24/7.
A real-world example of crawling is when a news website publishes a new article. Googlebot will visit the website, find the new article by following internal links, and add it to its list of content to crawl. Another example is when a blogger updates an old post with new information; Googlebot will detect these changes and update its index accordingly.
Moreover, Googlebot prioritizes crawling pages that are frequently updated and have many incoming links, meaning popular sites like Wikipedia or CNN are crawled more regularly.
Indexing
Once Googlebot finds a page, the next step is indexing. This is where Google tries to understand what the page is about. Google analyzes the page’s content, including text, images, and other media files, to determine its subject matter and how it should be ranked in search results. Factors such as content quality, keyword relevance, site structure, and user experience play a crucial role in this phase. All this information is stored in Google’s index, a massive database containing trillions of web pages.
For example, if Googlebot indexes a page about “pasta recipes,” it will analyze the content to identify relevant keywords like “pasta,” “recipes,” “ingredients,” and “cooking.” It will also consider images of pasta dishes and any videos showing how to prepare the recipe. Google will use this information to decide that this page is relevant to searches related to pasta recipes.
Another example is an e-commerce site that sells shoes. Googlebot will not only index product descriptions but also images, customer reviews, and pricing details, allowing users to find detailed information about each pair of shoes directly from search results.
Retrieval
Retrieval is the final process that occurs when a user performs a search. Google searches its index for pages that match the user’s query. It uses a complex algorithm that considers over 200 factors to determine the order in which results are displayed. These factors include content relevance and quality, domain authority, page loading speed, mobile compatibility, and many more. The goal is to provide the user with the most relevant and useful results at the top of the search results page.
For example, if someone searches for “best restaurants in Madrid,” Google will look in its index for pages that mention restaurants in Madrid, user ratings, menus, locations, and reviews. Pages that provide the most relevant and useful information, such as a list of highly-rated and updated restaurants, will be shown first.
Another example is when a user searches for “how to repair a bicycle.” Google will first present pages with detailed guides, instructional videos, and forums where users discuss bicycle repairs. These pages are selected because they offer high-quality content that is useful for answering the user’s query.
Algorithm Updates and Changes
Google continuously updates and adjusts its search algorithm to improve the accuracy and relevance of results. Some updates are small and go unnoticed, while others, like the Google Panda, Penguin, and more recently, BERT updates, have a significant impact on search results. These updates focus on improving natural language understanding, penalizing low-quality content, and reinforcing best SEO practices.
Google Panda, launched in 2011, targeted low-quality content like content farms and sites with a high ad density. For example, a website that published low-quality articles solely to generate traffic and ad clicks would be penalized, reducing its visibility in search results.
Google Penguin, introduced in 2012, aimed at sites using spammy techniques to get inbound links, such as link buying or excessive link exchanges. A website that engaged in these practices would see a drop in its ranking.
The BERT update, launched in 2019, allowed Google to better understand the context and nuances of language in searches. For example, if a user searches for “how to catch a fish without harming the environment,” BERT helps Google understand that the user is looking for sustainable fishing methods, not just any fishing technique.
These examples show how Google’s algorithm updates are designed to continually improve the quality of search results and the user experience.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Google
In recent years, artificial intelligence has played an increasingly important role in the operation of the Google search engine. Tools like RankBrain and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) help Google better understand complex queries and the context behind words.
RankBrain
Introduced in 2015, RankBrain is an AI system that helps Google process search results. It uses machine learning to interpret search queries and map them more effectively to relevant results. RankBrain is especially useful for handling queries that Google has never seen before, which constitutes a significant portion of daily searches.
For example, if someone searches for “how to improve my website’s speed,” RankBrain helps Google understand that the user’s intent is to find ways to optimize website performance, displaying relevant articles, guides, and tools.
BERT
Launched in 2019, BERT is one of the biggest advancements in Google’s ability to understand natural language. BERT helps Google better grasp the context of words in a search, interpreting prepositions and the relationship between words in a sentence. This allows Google to provide more relevant and useful search results, especially for complex and conversational queries.
For example, in a search like “travel to New York from Madrid in the summer,” BERT understands that the user is interested in travel options for a specific time of year, improving the relevance of the results.
Other AI Advances
In addition to RankBrain and BERT, Google continues to invest in other AI and machine learning technologies to enhance its search engine. These technologies include natural language processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, and context understanding, enabling Google to deliver even more accurate and personalized results.
For example, Google uses NLP to identify and understand the intent behind more complicated search queries, such as “best vegetarian restaurants near me,” offering results that consider the user’s location and dietary preferences.
The Future of Google Search
Looking to the future, it’s evident that Google will continue to evolve and improve its search engine. With the ongoing advancement of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other emerging technologies, we can expect Google to become even more precise and efficient in delivering search results.
A growing trend is voice search. With the popularity of devices like Google Home and virtual assistants like Google Assistant, more users are performing voice searches. This requires Google to effectively understand and process spoken language, posing new challenges and opportunities for the search engine.
Another area of focus is personalization. Google is working on providing more personalized search results based on the user’s search history, location, and other contextual signals. This will allow users to receive more relevant and tailored search results.
Optimization for the Future
For website owners and SEO professionals, it is crucial to stay updated with these trends and adapt to changes in Google’s algorithm. Key strategies include optimizing for voice search, creating high-quality and relevant content, improving the user experience on mobile devices, and implementing technical SEO practices.
A good practice is to conduct regular SEO audits to identify and correct issues on the website. Use tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics to monitor site performance and make adjustments as needed.
Finally, staying informed about Google’s algorithm updates and changes is essential. By following industry blogs, attending SEO conferences, and participating in online communities, you can ensure that you are up to date with the latest trends and best practices.
The Role of Content in SEO
Content remains king when it comes to SEO. Google values high-quality, relevant, and useful content for users. When creating content, ensure it is well-researched, informative, and answers users’ questions. Use keywords naturally and avoid keyword stuffing, as Google penalizes these practices.
The length of the content also matters. Longer and more detailed articles tend to rank better in search results. However, quality should always take precedence over quantity. Make sure your content is valuable and engaging for readers.
Importance of User Experience
Google considers user experience a crucial factor in its search algorithm. Factors such as page load speed, mobile compatibility, easy navigation, and attractive design influence how Google ranks your site. Optimize your site to provide a smooth and seamless user experience. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix performance issues.
Links and Site Authority
Links remain an important factor in SEO. Google uses links to evaluate the authority and relevance of your site. Incoming links from high-quality and relevant websites can significantly improve your ranking in search results. However, avoid low-quality or spammy link-building practices, as Google penalizes these behaviors.
Monitoring and Analysis
Once you have implemented all these SEO strategies, it is crucial to monitor and analyze the results. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track traffic, conversions, and other key performance indicators.
Conduct regular audits to identify and fix any SEO issues. Stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and updates to ensure your site remains competitive in search results.
I hope these tips have been helpful. If you need further assistance, feel free to contact me, and you can also find me on Google Maps.
By the way, you might be interested in this article:
Or even this one:
Sources Used to Write “How the Google Search Engine Works”
1.- We Are Social
2.- Digital Report for 2024 from We Are Social at this URL: We Are Social Digital 2024 Report (We Are Social USA).
3.- Hootsuite: Global Digital Overview
4.- Download We Are Social Report
5.- Market Share of Online Search Engines Used from Desktop Computers Worldwide from January 2012 to February 2021
6.- How Google Searches Work Explained by Matt Cutts on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=majWEUOmSgE
7.- JCB Digital Marketing Channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/JavierCarmonaBenitez
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