Does Google know who the experts are by what people are searching for?

Does Google know who the experts are by what people are searching for?

December 13, 2012 10:50 pm By InOnline Marketing

Have you ever thought about the vast database of knowledge that Google has on everyone?

They have the exact IP address of every search ever done for every single keyword.  Google is Godlike in its real-time knowledge of the collective current consciousness of the world and the historic log of all searches for everything.  I’m not talking about this purely from an SEO or online marketing perspective (that would be self-serving), but from the standpoint of figuring out who digests the most information on specific topics.  After all, if you subscribe to the philosophy of Malcom Gladwell and his book, Outliers; then you understand the principle of “10,000 hours” which states that it takes 10,000 hours of practicing anything to become an expert.

Wouldn’t it make sense that someone who searches for 10,000 variations of a specific topic would be more knowledgeable on that topic than someone who searched for it once or a few times?

What if Google knows that only 2% of people in the world search religiously for one topic 10,000 times more than anyone else?

They can add to that knowledge their index of all websites that are most authoritative for that topic – their Search Algorithm.  By cross-pollinating the two together, they can determine who really knows what they are talking about.  Granted, this doesn’t measure the hours spent in College, training classes, seminars, or any offline activity.  One could argue that the people doing the most searches on a specific topic know the least about it, but for many industries such as automotive, medical, technology, legal and the financial industry where variables change rapidly, it makes sense.  As SEO consultants, we can only see the anonymous data that is still valuable to our clients because we can capitalize on the searches in real-time.  That’s good for advertisers and online marketers, but what if you could more accurately connect searchers directly to the most qualified person for SEO in Akron, or medical advice in Canton?

Google could layer this truer authoritative variable over the current search algorithm factors such as the expert’s Social Media footprint, original quality online content on their website, quality links from other relevant websites, freshness of content, etc. That’s my deep thought today on what Google could be up to, and no I’m not a conspiracy theorist.

 

 

About Matt Ross

Matt Ross is the President and Founder of DigitalHipster Inc. est. 2009.  Matt and his Wife Wendy have two adult sons. He's a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Alumni, a member of The Society of Martin Scholars at The University of Akron, and an active member in a few book clubs. When he's not deep in code and cranking music, or trying to keep up with the latest Google Algorithm, Matt is gardening, mountain biking, off-roading in his Jeep, writing for fun or being a guinea pig for his wife's yoga instruction. He lives and works in Highland Square Akron, Ohio. For the 15 years prior to launching DigitalHipster Inc.  Matt worked as a Senior Advertising Account Executive and Integrated Sales Director for major television stations and newspapers in the Akron, Cleveland, Phoenix and Las Vegas markets. He has successfully planned, sold and executed millions of dollars in innovative multi-platform advertising campaigns consisting of television commercials, web video, content integration, multi-carrier mobile WAP sites, print ads, and radio. Matt says, "During my years working in broadcast and print media, I learned how to gather real-time advertising response rates and develop cost-effect creative that works for my clients.  By working for over a decade on the sales side with millions of dollars of advertising revenue, I learned how to spot bargains for my clients and see what worked and what didn't. We're not just a team of graphic designers, or artists that take chances with your ad budget. We have real advertising experience across all the major advertising channels."