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PageRank and RankBrain both seem to be (complicated) features to the actual core search algorithm, which is some unspecified machine learned model [1]. PageRan
by gradys 11y ago
PageRank and RankBrain both seem to be (complicated) features to the actual core search algorithm, which is some unspecified machine learned model [1].
PageRank, for example, can't be the whole search algorithm since it's not even query-dependent. It would just put the same most authoritative document at the top for every query.
Similiarly, RankBrain doesn't sound like it could be the whole algorithm. It sounds like it is just a text understanding model (which wouldn't know anything about e.g. the global reputation of the document, the popularity of the document, etc.). In fact, the article explicitly confirms this:
>RankBrain has become the third-most important signal contributing to the result of a search query, he said.
I'd guess some kind of composite content quality signal and some kind of composite popularity signal sit at #1 and #2.
[1] - I don't have any insider knowledge about how Google works, but this article suggests that they were getting ready to switch from a hand-tuned model to a machine learned one in 2008: http://anand.typepad.com/datawocky/2008/05/are-human-experts-less-prone-to-catastrophic-errors-than-machine-learned-models.html http://anand.typepad.com/datawocky/2008/05/are-human-experts...
- mappingbabeljc 11y agoHiya, author here - yes, you are correct. RankBrain is one of hundreds of distinct signals that go into the results page. It just happens to be one with a great deal of influence, which I think demonstrates the surprising generality/adaptability of this type of approach for natural language processing and interpretation.
- kuschku 11y agoWell, except the results of Google got worse and worse over the past years (since around 2013 I could pinpoint the issue), to the point that by now often only one or two entries on the results page are relevant. Even if I search for a very specific query, Google will just only give me results ignoring several parts of my query, and at best one or two about my actual query. Even duckduckgo manages to give better results often at this point. EDIT: Just found verbatim search, at least that gives almost equal results as duckduckgo. Still not as good, but it’s okay.
- moultano 11y agoIf you'd like to share the query I'd be really interested to debug.
- kuschku 11y agoI don’t have one specific query – it is EVERY query where Google will ignore 90%+ of the words I entered, and show me around 5 related results, and otherwise completely bullshit results, with no way to see more.
- wslh 11y agoUse [Search Tools] => [All Results] => [Verbatim] that is a known issue for people who have been using Google Search for years. There are many discussions about this topic, like: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4744658.htm https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4744658.htm
- kuschku 11y agoEven that doesn’t solve all issues – it still shows results that are irrelevant to my query and do not even match the query. It should not be hard to convert a query into a regex for content, title and URL and apply it on the index.
- moultano 11y agoThat sounds really frustrating. Any examples you can give would really help to debug.
- kuschku 11y agoOften the issue occured with searching technical things, like, I copy-pasted a python exception, and Google would tell me where to download python and which python books to get and that python is a type of snakes. It’s incredibly frustrating, but if I, by accident, use Google again and see the issue, I’ll tell you.