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https://nypost.com/2024/05/30/business/google-admits-massive-leak-related-to-search-is-authentic/
Submission: On May 31 via api from BE — Scanned from DE
Submission: On May 31 via api from BE — Scanned from DE
Form analysis
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Primary Menu Sections * US News Open sub menu * Metro * Politics * Swing States 2024 * World News * Page Six * Sports Open sub menu * NFL * MLB * NBA * NHL * College Football * College Basketball * WNBA * Post Sports+ * Sports Betting * Business Open sub menu * Personal Finance * Opinion * Entertainment Open sub menu * TV * Movies * Music * Celebrities * Awards * Theater * Shopping * Lifestyle Open sub menu * Weird But True * Health * Sex & Relationships * Viral Trends * Human Interest * Parenting * Fashion & Beauty * Food & Drink * Travel * Real Estate * Alexa * Media * Tech * Astrology * Video * Photos * Visual Stories * * Today’s Paper * Covers * Columnists * Horoscopes * Crosswords & Games * Sports Odds * Podcasts * Careers * * Email Newsletters * Official Store * Home Delivery * Tips Log In Search Email New York Post Log In Search Search BREAKING NEWS Trump says he will appeal conviction, is ‘honored’ by legal battle: ‘We’re fighting for our Constitution’ Business * Facebook * Twitter * Flipboard * WhatsApp * Email * Copy * * 1616 Comments GOOGLE ADMITS MASSIVE DOCUMENT LEAK RELATED TO SEARCH ALGORITHM IS AUTHENTIC By Social Links for Thomas Barrabi * View Author Archive * Email the Author * Follow on X * Get author RSS feed CONTACT THE AUTHOR Name (required) Email (required) Comment (required) Submit Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission. Back to Reading There was an error submitting your message Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission. Back to Reading Published May 30, 2024 Updated May 30, 2024, 6:00 p.m. ET 0:00 / 0:53 'AI death calculator' creators issue urgent warning about frighteningly-accurate tool Google has confirmed that a massive leak of some 2,500 internal documents related to its search engine is authentic – and one expert said the trove shows that “Google tells us one thing and they do another” when it comes to its mysterious algorithms. The tech giant has been secretive about how its search engine works even as it has wielded outsize influence over the flow of information, traffic and ad revenue online. Some details appeared to contradict past public statements by Google employees regarding which factors are and are not used to calculate rankings. For example, a Google Search employee said in 2016 that the company doesn’t “have a website authority score.” The company has also explicitly denied using Chrome data in search rankings. Information in the documents, however, suggests that Google considers click rates, data from its Chrome web browser, website size and a factor called “domain authority” – a measure of a website’s importance or relevance on a particular subject – to guide rankings. EXPLORE MORE ELON MUSK'S X TO STAGE TOWN HALL WITH DONALD TRUMP GOOGLE FINALLY RESOLVES WIDESPREAD OUTAGE AFFECTING SEARCH ENGINE J.LO'S DEAL FOR $1M-PER-SHOW VEGAS RESIDENCY IN JEOPARDY AS NEW ALBUM, CONCERT TOUR FLOP: SOURCE 3 Some experts described the Google document leak as the biggest ever for its Search algorithm. AP “The main takeaway here is Google tells us one thing and they do another,” iPullRank CEO Michael King, who published the first analysis of the trove, told The Post. “These documents give us clarity on that,” King added. “We don’t have the recipe that Google is using for search, but we now have a really clear indication of what the ingredients are.” Some experts, including the trade publication Search Engine Land, have noted the documents mention modules that suggest Google implements “whitelists” for certain topics, including searches related to elections (IsElectionAuthority) and the COVID-19 pandemic (IsCovidLocalAuthority). King said the references are likely Google’s attempt to identify “quality sources” on a given subject. Details about how the whitelists may operate are scant, but Google has faced allegations of exhibiting a left-wing bias for years. A recent analysis by media company AllSides found that 63% of articles on Google News were from left-leaning outlets, compared to just 6% from right-leaning sources. An analysis by right-leaning watchdog Media Research Center detailed 41 alleged instances of “election interference” at the online search giant since 2008. The report cited data from Dr. Robert Epstein, who once testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that “biased search resulted generated by Google’s search algorithm” shifted “at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton.” 3 Google confirmed the documents were authentic. AFP via Getty Images Google has long denied it is bias against conservative viewpoints and has said Epstein’s research is “widely debunked.” The leaked search documents allegedly contain more than 14,000 ranking factors that Google considers when organizing websites – from news outlets like The Post to small business owners and beyond. The internal data reportedly surfaced on the online code repository GitHub in March, but it did not receive public scrutiny until search engine optimization (SEO) experts Rand Fishkin and King obtained and posted separate breakdowns. Google tacitly confirmed that the documents are real – though it warned that they lacked important context and shouldn’t be used by the public to glean any insights about how search works. “We would caution against making inaccurate assumptions about Search based on out-of-context, outdated or incomplete information,” Google spokesperson Davis Thompson said in a statement. “We’ve shared extensive information about how Search works and the types of factors that our systems weigh, while also working to protect the integrity of our results from manipulation,” the statement added. 3 Google cautioned against drawing conclusions based on the documents. REUTERS Google also warned that the documents are not a comprehensive, relevant or up-to-date view of its Search ranking algorithm. It’s still unclear if Google has actually implemented any of the ranking factors detailed in documents or was merely testing or experimenting with them. Some may have never been used at all. Even if they were in use, it’s essentially impossible to assess how important they are in crafting what users see in search results. The documents did not reveal how the ranking features are weighted. The leaked documents provide an interesting, yet incomplete view of the company’s inner workings on search, according to Barry Schwartz, a prominent SEO expert and owner of the web consultancy RustyBrick. 16 What do you think? Post a comment. Schwartz said the documents are best seen as a signal of “what Google is thinking about” as it relates to online search. “How Google does that around certain factors like links and content quality and authority and authors – all of that’s in there,” Schwartz said. “The question is, we don’t know what they’re weighted, how important are these signals, are they used at all. That’s the issue with this.” Nevertheless, the documents amount to “the biggest leak that we’ve ever seen come out of Google for search,” according to King. “This is the biggest, most transparent that we’ve ever seen into how Google functions,” King said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE: * Facebook * Twitter * Flipboard * WhatsApp * Email * Copy * * 1616 Comments Filed under * google * online * search engines * 5/30/24 Read Next Cracker Barrel to hike prices after sales drop, CEO admits... COLUMNISTS * JENNIFER GOULD NYC SUSHI HOTSPOTS POPPING UP IN UNUSUAL PLACES — AND EVEN BLAKE LIVELY IS FEEDING THE FRENZY * STEVE CUOZZO EAST MIDTOWN'S ROOSEVELT HOTEL COULD BE MIGRANT-FREE BY END OF 2024: SOURCES * KEN FISHER LOCKED OUT OF THE US HOUSING MARKET? HERE’S HOW TO WIN ‘REVENGE’ IN THE MEANTIME SEE ALL COLUMNISTS TRENDING NOW IN BUSINESS * This story has been shared 17,299 times. 17,299 ELON MUSK'S X TO STAGE TOWN HALL WITH DONALD TRUMP * This story has been shared 3,914 times. 3,914 GOOGLE FINALLY RESOLVES WIDESPREAD OUTAGE AFFECTING SEARCH ENGINE * This story has been shared 3,445 times. 3,445 J.LO'S DEAL FOR $1M-PER-SHOW VEGAS RESIDENCY IN JEOPARDY AS NEW ALBUM, CONCERT TOUR FLOP: SOURCE NOW ON PAGE SIX * IVANKA TRUMP SHOWS SUPPORT FOR DAD DONALD AFTER HE’S CONVICTED IN HUSH MONEY TRIAL: ‘I LOVE YOU’ * KYLE RICHARDS SLAMS LISA VANDERPUMP’S ‘REALLY MEAN’ COMMENTS ABOUT MAURICIO UMANSKY SPLIT * SOFÍA VERGARA JOKES THAT SHE CAN ‘RECYCLE’ HER TATTOO TRIBUTE TO EX JOE MANGANIELLO AMID JUSTIN SALIMAN ROMANCE See All Some experts described the Google document leak as the biggest ever for its Search algorithm. AP Google confirmed the documents were authentic. AFP via Getty Images Google cautioned against drawing conclusions based on the documents. REUTERS You are viewing 1 of 3 images Previous Image Next Image Advertisement MORE STORIES PAGE SIX JENNIFER LOPEZ EXITS BEN AFFLECK'S HOME JUST ONE HOUR AFTER PUTTING ON UNITED FRONT AT HIS DAUGHTER VIOLET'S GRADUATION PARTY NYPOST FAMILY'S $15K CARNIVAL CRUISE VACATION CANCELED JUST 2 DAYS PRIOR, WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE, AFTER SHARING BOOKING NUMBER ON FACEBOOK * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * LinkedIn * Email * YouTube * Sections & Features * US News * Metro * World News * Sports * Sports Betting * Business * Opinion * Entertainment * Fashion & Beauty * Shopping * Lifestyle * Real Estate * Media * Tech * Health * Travel * Astrology * Video * Photos * Visual Stories * Alexa * Covers * Horoscopes * Sports Odds * Podcasts * Crosswords & Games * Columnists * Classifieds * Post Sports+ * Subscribe * Articles * Manage * Newsletters & Feeds * Email Newsletters * RSS Feeds * NY Post Official Store * Home Delivery * Subscribe * Manage Subscription * Delivery Help * Help/Support * About New York Post * Customer Service * Apps Help * Community Guidelines * Contact Us * Tips * Newsroom * Letters to the Editor * Licensing & Reprints * Careers * Vulnerability Disclosure Program * Apps * iPhone App * iPad App * Android Phone * Android Tablet * Advertise * Media Kit * Contact © 2024 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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