More transparency from Google

A few weeks ago I blogged excitedly about what seemed to be an exciting new trend at Google towards more openness in terms of how search results are ranked. 

There hasn't exactly been a flood of information since then, but now we have another useful post on Google's official blog - an introduction to Google Ranking from Amit Singhal who runs the ranking team within Google's Search Quality Group. 

Of course, we don't get an insight into the secret sauce within Google, and I guess we probably wouldn't be able to make much sense of the algorithms even if they were revealled.  However, the basic principles behind the ranking process are interesting:

1) Best locally relevant results served globally.
2) Keep it simple.
3) No manual intervention.

The last point will raise some eyebrows - there are endless rumours in SEO circles about particular sites being singled out for ranking penalties. But according to Amit, these changes are simply the result of tweaks to the algorithm. Hmmmm.

Anyway, more information is promised and I can't wait. Google is doing a fantastic job of demystifying the business of getting a high search ranking - which can't be entirely welcome news in those areas of search marketing agencies whose business depends on making the process seem as complex and difficult as possible.

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