The secrecy surrounding Google’s ranking factors has been a thorn in the side of SEO engineers since the search engine started to dominate the internet. Very little has been confirmed about the specific ranking factors used to determine website positions in their search results.
While there are an official set of guidelines, Google have only ever confirmed 3 of their ranking factors – Links, Content and Rank Brain.
However, all this could change very soon.
The European Commission is set to propose that Google and other search engines must publish their ranking factors in order to create a level playing field when it comes to SEO. While the proposal will not force companies to reveal their algorithms, it states that ranking factors should be clearer for smaller companies to be able to compete with bigger brands.
It’s also reported that changes will be proposed to the way sanctions and other listings are handled, again stating better clarity should be given to companies that are affected.
While at this stage, these changes are merely a proposal, they could indicate significant changes for the future for SEO and online marketing.