Can you please describe to me the Methodology Google Search uses to
determine which companies are listed #1, 2, 3...

When you type certain keywords into the Google Search engine my
company comes up #1. I would like to understand how and why that
happens. thx!

Hello kaelen-ga,

As a Researcher, I cannot speak on behalf of Google.  However, I can
inform you as to what Google has said about its methodology.

According to Google: "Google's order of results is automatically
determined by more than 100 factors, including our PageRank algorithm.
... Due to the nature of our business and our interest in protecting
the integrity of our search results, this is the only information we
make available to the public about our ranking system."

This page also notes that site rankings may change when Google's index
is updated: "Your rank naturally will be affected by changes in the
ranking of other sites.  You can be assured that no one at Google has
hand adjusted the results to boost the ranking of a site."

"Information for Webmasters: PageRank Information"
Google
://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html

As Google explains elsewhere, the heart of Google's software is
PageRank:

"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using
its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value.
In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote,
by page A, for page B.  But, Google looks at more than the sheer
volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page
that casts the vote.  Votes cast by pages that are themselves
'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages
'important.'"

PageRank is not the only factor:

"Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google
remembers each time it conducts a search.  Of course, important pages
mean nothing to you if they don't match your query.  So, Google
combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find
pages that are both important and relevant to your search.  Google
goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and
examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the
pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your
query."

"Our Search: Google Technology: Why Use Google"
Google
://www.google.com/technology/index.html

More explanation of this technology is found here:

"Corporate Information: Innovative Technology"
Google
://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html

The foregoing information relates to the Google Web Search.  The
rankings in the Google Web Directory are determined differently
(though again based in large part on PageRank), as described here:

"Google Web Directory Help"
Google
://www.google.com/dirhelp.html

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search strategy:

Searched on Google site (in search box at
://www.google.com/options/ ) for the term:

pagerank

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Request for Answer Clarification by kaelen-ga on 09 Feb 2003 15:45 PST

I had already discovered what Google says about Google's Search
methodology.  I am interested in third party explanations of how
Google search technology ranks sites. thx!

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Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 09 Feb 2003 18:10 PST

Given that Google has a "strong interest in protecting the integrity
of [its] search results", statements by others about Google's complete
methodology are speculation.  Even if someone correctly deduced the
exact methodology at a given time, Google is presumably working to
improve the methodology, so that the information would become
outdated.  Accordingly, I think that the page that I cited on
"Innovative Technology" is the best source for how PageRank and other
factors work together.

However, information on a primary factor, PageRank, is public. 
Indeed, Google's co-founders have published papers on PageRank -- but
I assume that since you are asking for "third party" information, you
are not interested in those papers.  Thus, here are three detailed
explanations by outside persons:

"Google's PageRank Explained and how to make the most of it", by Phil
Craven
WebWorkshop
http://webworkshop.net/pagerank.html

"A Survey of Google's PageRank"
eFactory Internet-Agentur
http://pr.efactory.de/

"The Google Pagerank Algorithm and How It Works", by Ian Rogers (last
edited: 16th May 2002)
IPR Computing Ltd.
http://www.iprcom.com/papers/pagerank/index.html


Search strategy -

Searched on Google Answers for:

pagerank

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Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 09 Feb 2003 18:12 PST

I should note that while information on PageRank is public, the
methodology of PageRank is patented.