Why the Google Leak from Earlier this Year Is Big News for Your Business

When you need directions, want to read a review on a business, or ask a question, Google is often the go-to. But being the default comes with increased scrutiny. This has been especially true following the 2024 Google leak, which has raised questions about privacy concerns, what actually informs Google’s search algorithm, and more. Here’s what businesses need to know about this shakeup in search.

What Did the Google Leak Reveal?

There’s a lot of info in the Google API leak. It discloses the inner workings of Google’s algorithms and reveals several contradictions to public statements Google has previously said. However, even with these revelations, Google isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s still the undisputed king of search.

The insights from the Google leak are critical for developing more effective SEO strategies that can help a business rank higher, get more traffic, and win more business. 

Clicks Matter

The leaked documents reveal that Google uses various types of click data, such as click-through rates (CTR), long clicks, and short clicks, to influence rankings. This confirms what the SEO community has suspected all along despite a history of Google not giving a definitive answer. This directly contradicts their public statements and suggests that user behavior metrics are more critical to SERP (Search Engine Results Page) rankings than previously acknowledged. 

What does this mean for business owners and marketing directors?

• Your website content should encourage clicks

• Page titles, headlines, and other prominent text need to both pique interest and inform

• Calls to action are your friend more than ever

Google Gatekeeps New Sites

Despite public denials, this leak confirms Google uses a technique called hostAge to evaluate and control new websites’ visibility on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) by considering their age or how long it has been active. This feature can prevent new, untrusted sites from ranking too high too quickly by reducing the page’s SERP rank until it determines the website’s credibility. 

In other words, Google gatekeeps new sites from higher rankings until they can establish the credibility of the website first.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• New sites will have an uphill battle to gain visibility

• Trust and authority are long-term goals you should be shooting for

• To gain traction initially, new sites may need to engage in more strategic planning with an SEO who knows what they’re doing

Your Website Needs to Establish Your Authority

The leak confirmed a “siteAuthority” measure, indicating that Google considers sitewide authority in its ranking process. (Site authority on Google measures how trustworthy and reliable a website is, influencing its ranking in search results.) This contradicts previous statements by Google downplaying the importance of sitewide authority.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Your content should position you as an authority in your industry

• Your website content needs to consistently provide quality and trustworthy information

• Content strategies for your website need to be comprehensive and emphasize authority

• Establishing and growing a distinguished, widely-known brand in your industry is as important as having helpful, high-quality content

Content Updates Help You Keep Up

Google keeps a record of up to 20 versions of a webpage, influencing how different versions are weighted and scored over time.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Regularly updating content can positively impact your rankings as long as it is high-quality

• If done correctly, content versioning (keeping track of different drafts or updates of a webpage over time) can be a less strenuous means of improving SEO performance

Newer Links Win Out

According to the leaked documents, links from newer web pages carry more weight than those from older content. This challenges the conventional belief that older links are always more valuable.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Start focusing on acquiring fresh, high-quality backlinks since old backlinks no longer appear to hold as much value as we’ve been led to believe

• Use continuous link-building efforts to facilitate ongoing progress

• You’ll need to find a way to strike a balance between old and new link strategies

Quality Content Is King

When it comes to Google and SEO, quality is king. The Google leak indicates that even short content can rank well, provided it’s some high-quality stuff. This goes against what has long been held true: longer content is always preferable for SEO purposes.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• The quality of content does more for SEO than quantity of words or pages filled with fluff

• Less sometimes is more when it comes to content, depending on what the content is about

• Google isn’t your high school English teacher telling you to write a 2,000-word essay. The length of the content isn’t what will determine your rank; its quality and your authority will

What Google Is Really Afraid of Getting Out

It’s worth taking a break here to mention that thus far, the leaked documents haven’t revealed anything that would put Google in the hot seat for too long. We humans have such short attention spans, after all. However, what follows is what Google really doesn’t want people to know from the leak.

Browsing Is a Ranking Factor

The leaked documents suggest that, despite public denials, Chrome browsing data influences search rankings, raising significant privacy concerns.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Ethics aside, your users’ data could be influencing how your website is ranking

• We could see a shift in ranking based on browsing behavior

• Data collection could become a hot-button issue in the near future, especially for your customers

Collected User Data Also Influences Rankings

Beyond Chrome data, the leaked documents indicate that Google collects extensive user data, including browsing habits and click patterns, to influence search rankings.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Your website will need to have disclaimers, like cookie consent messages, to comply with updated privacy laws and regulations

• More data protection regulations could be coming swiftly down the pike you need to pay attention to

Sensitive Topics Are Subject to Oversight

The leak suggests that Google employs safelists for sensitive topics, like COVID-19, elections, and travel, which has the potential to influence public opinion and information accessibility. This allows Google to control which sites appear for these topics, potentially shaping public opinion and information accessibility based on undisclosed criteria.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• If you regularly publish content related to sensitive topics, you run the risk of being suppressed or deprioritized if the information

• Your SEO strategy needs to account for safelisting potentially sensitive topics

• Content on sensitive topics needs to be credible and authoritative

Google’s Bias Is Showing

Claims within the leak imply that Google uses shadow-banning penalties on sites that do not align with its political views, raising real ethical questions about censorship.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Some risk management strategies may need to be employed for politically sensitive content

• Politically neutral content can avoid penalties

Search Results Can Change Unpredictably

Lastly, the leak indicates that some features and metrics might be used for testing rather than active ranking, leading to unpredictable changes in search results.

What does this mean for your business and website?

• Stay flexible when it comes to adapting to algorithm changes

• Stay vigilant when it comes to monitoring your website’s search performance

• Whether freelance, in-house, or through an agency, an SEO specialist will go a long way in helping you create proactive SEO strategies to stay ahead of algorithm updates

What this Past Spring’s Google Leak Means for You

Google is facing increased scrutiny for its willingness to say one thing in public but flip the script in the privacy of its own day-to-day practices.

This leak should serve as a wake-up call for business owners to continually reassess strategies and prioritize SEO in their marketing. A fair shake isn’t necessarily something Google is willing to give out freely; you need someone devoted to keeping track of algorithm changes, what Google wants from your website, and how to stay ahead of the competition in search. With how people today find and talk about your business, an SEO expert is as important as a marketing director in getting your message out there to customers.

Looking for expert guidance in this ever-changing environment? We’ve got you covered with comprehensive digital marketing services available a la carte and tailored to your unique goals and needs. You can request a free SEO audit to discover areas of improvement for your website. Get in touch for a no-obligation consultation!