Google's secret black box Here's an interesting article from MSM (that's mainstream media for the non-blog readers among us): Google's secrets (page may require free registration). The LA Times story focuses on how little is really known about Google: Quote: There's still one thing almost no one knows: How Google works. "It's somewhat of a paradox," said Jordan Rohan, a financial analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "Google's whole purpose is to make information easier to access — unless, of course, you want to know information about Google." And that includes the aspects of the SE that generate so many posts on forums like this one: Quote: After all, Google has some very good reasons for keeping parts of its business secret. A top ranking in the search results has become such valuable online real estate that an entire industry has sprung up to try to boost websites. But Google's popularity depends on its ability to deliver relevant search results. Bogus results could drive away users. So Google has kept its ranking formula — which the company says includes more than 200 signals — more secret than the recipe for Coca-Cola. ... "You don't want to give the game away," said Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, an industry newsletter. "At the same time, your lack of talking causes people to mistrust you. Perhaps it's the culture of search — you've got these enemies all around you." Google pokes fun at its own evasiveness. A Google search for "How does Google work?" delivers, as the first result, a link to a website explaining that results are delivered by a cluster of birds working together in a system called PigeonRank. The page was created by a Google employee as an April Fools' Day gag in 2002. The ranking method is no joke for the thousands of businesses that depend on Google for the flood of traffic that a top search result delivers. Companies have found their websites dropped from the results without explanation, and it can take months to get back into Google's good graces. ...[Google] also periodically changes the way it ranks sites, to counteract more sophisticated tactics in the cat-and-mouse game with "search engine optimizers." Whenever it does, online message boards fill with complaints from webmasters saying their sites got the "Google death penalty."