Google’s search engine is widely regarded as the gateway to the internet, a cornerstone of the digital world. Recently, a massive data leak—confirmed by the company itself—could reveal details about its long-guarded secret: the algorithm that determines how websites rise and fall in search results.
After two days of corporate silence, the tech giant finally acknowledged on Thursday that up to 2,500 internal documents were stolen. The leaked material outlines what data Google collects and which information might influence ranking in search results.
“We caution against drawing inaccurate conclusions about search based on decontextualized, outdated, or incomplete information,” said Davis Thompson, a Google spokesperson, in statements to the U.S. tech publication The Verge.
The leak, spotted earlier in the week by search optimization experts Rand Fishkin and Mike King, suggests that Google “collects and potentially uses data that, according to the company, do not contribute to ranking pages in Google Search, such as clicks, Chrome user data, and similar signals,” as reported by the portal.
Follow the mystery
Despite the explosive, illegal breach, it remains unclear which data Google actually uses to rank content shown in its widely visited search results, or how the different ranking factors are weighted. The company’s secret behind Sundar Pichai’s leadership remains carefully guarded.
Nevertheless, The Verge notes that the leak could spark a debate among SEO and marketing professionals who constantly work to understand how the Google algorithm operates and to adjust strategies to achieve better visibility. Google’s central role in many businesses, large and small, has drawn increasing scrutiny from regulators who wonder whether such practices could amount to an abuse of power.