*An Anonymous Source Shared Thousands of Leaked Google Search API Documents with Me; Everyone in SEO Should See Them * By Rand Fishkin <https://sparktoro.com/blog/author/rand/> May 27, 2024 On Sunday, May 5th, I received an email from a person claiming to have access to a massive leak of API documentation from inside Google’s Search division. The email further claimed that these leaked documents were confirmed as authentic by ex-Google employees, and that those ex-employees and others had shared additional, private information about Google’s search operations. Many of their claims directly contradict public statements <https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ctr-search-rankings-27157.html> made by Googlers over the years, in particular the company’s repeated denial <https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ctr-dwell-time-signals-myths-27083.html> that click-centric user signals <https://www.blindfiveyearold.com/is-click-through-rate-a-ranking-signal> are employed, denial <https://iloveseo.com/seo/google-says-subdomains-vs-subfolders-doesnt-matter/> that subdomains are considered separately in rankings, denials <https://www.seroundtable.com/google-sandbox-nope-28082.html> of a sandbox for newer websites, denials <https://www.seroundtable.com/google-domain-age-23697.html> that a domain’s age is collected or considered, and more. Naturally, I was skeptical. The claims made by this source (who asked to remain anonymous) seemed extraordinary–claims like: * In their early years, Google’s search team recognized a need for full clickstream data (every URL visited by a browser) for a large percent of web users to improve their search engine’s result quality. * A system called “NavBoost” (cited by VP of Search, Pandu Nayak, in his DOJ case testimony <https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-P...>) initially gathered data from Google’s Toolbar PageRank <https://moz.com/blog/what-is-googles-pagerank-good-for-whiteboard-friday>, and desire for more clickstream data served as the key motivation for creation of the Chrome browser (launched <https://www.npr.org/2008/09/05/94299337/google-launches-chrome-web-browser> in 2008). [...] continua qui: https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-go...