On weekends, thousands of Google Search API documentation has been leaked. This highly technical document purportedly covers Google's 14,000+ ranking factors, how it evaluates link value and click behavior, how Google categorizes small sites, and more. But for the average marketer focused on building their brand, this news may be more inspirational than actionable.
Don't overreact. “While this leak is interesting to dig into, there are too many unknowns about the actual leaked information to make any SEO-related decisions,” said Lily Ray, vice president of SEO strategy and research at Amsive. “We don't know if the leaked attributes are actual ranking factors, and to what extent, if at all, they are currently being used.”
“But this information is worth investigating, because at the very least it reveals some interesting naming conventions that Google uses for its internal API documentation, including many buzzwords that SEOs have been discussing for years.”
Rather than parsing technical documentation, brands should focus on making sure their basic SEO practices are strong, such as ensuring content with keywords and images aligns with search intent, internal linking, and building strong URLs.
Brands matter. That was the biggest takeaway for SparkToro co-founder and CEO Rand Fishkin, who said the document shows how difficult it is for smaller websites to manipulate SEO to improve their Google rankings. “If there's one piece of universal advice I'd give to marketers who want to dramatically improve their organic rankings and traffic, it's: build a notable, popular, and well-known brand in your field outside of Google Search,” Fishkin wrote in a blog post. Blog Post.
Approximately 36% of marketers worldwide Increase investment in brand marketingThat figure is expected to rise to 31% in 2023 and 23% in 2022, according to a December 2023 survey by WARC.