14 DAY TRIAL // Most people use Google, or another search engine, every day, but they have no idea about what happens behind the scenes to bring up the results. What's more, even if some users have an idea of how a search engine works, they don't know exactly what Google does to maintain its search algorithm and to ensure that it serves quality results, even as many websites out there try to game the process.
Google has now put together a video that gives a glimpse at the type of things the search team at Google works on and how it decides what to build and what not to.
As you can probable imagine, if you have an idea of what Google is like, it's a thorough and scientific process. Any idea or small change is tested greatly before getting a chance of being implemented for all users.
"Beyond our talk and various blog posts, we wanted to give people an even deeper look inside search, so we put together a short video that gives you a sense of the work that goes into the changes and improvements we make to Google almost every day," Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow who oversees search efforts at the company, wrote.
"While an improvement to the algorithm may start with a creative idea, it always goes through a process of rigorous scientific testing. Simply put: if the data from our experiments doesn’t show that we’re helping users, we won’t launch the change," he explained.
There's no deep knowledge to be found in the video, if you already have a good idea of what Google Search does, but it does provide a rare glimpse into the process of updating the algorithm. But the video should be quite informative for most people.
And, if the video wets your appetite for more information, you can check out the talk that Amit Singhal along with Ben Gomes and Matt Cutts, the three main people at Google Search, gave a short while ago, discussing their history at Google, how a search engine works and what Google is doing at the moment in the field.