NYTimes Gets Peek Inside Google’s Search Systems

Perhaps amongst the most closely guarded secrets in the entire tech industry are the algorithms or formulas that include “signals” and “classifiers” that determine a website’s position on Google’s SERP’s (search engine results pages).

This Sunday’s New York Times offered one of the clearest behind-the-scenes visits with those who make things happen at the Googleplex that I’ve seen including interviews and fly-on-the-wall perspectives on meetings with some of Google search’s main players (two are shown here). The article is insightful and clear; and it provides, within reasonable limits, a nice overview of how Google’s search engine works, an introduction to the team that manages its impressive set of variables, the awesome scope of Google’s whole search techno-universe, and more.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and related fields. (A membership in the NYTimes site may be required to view this article.)