Popularity is not equal to relevance Except in the case of advertising Even if, hypothetically, company knows what user is searching for before user finishes

Popularity is not equal to relevance Except in the case of advertising Even if, hypothetically, company knows what user is searching for before user finishes typing a query, it does not mean company is going to deliver it to user Company is paid by advertisers, not users Company can deliver something _popular_, call it "relevant", make bank "Popular" grows audience, good for advertisers "Relevant" not necessarily good for advertisers, only good for user Company serves its customers: advertisers Company does not need PageRank to determine popularity, only search traffic (search query data) (Of course a result could be both relevant and popular. But a result could also be relevant and _unpopular_. Company is promotes the former to the exclusion of the later. It profits by selling advertising services to advertisers, not information services to www users)