Search Engines – RankBrain
RankBrain is an artificial intelligence machine designed by Google to initially monitor before eventually take charge of the company’s search engine algorithm.
Google is riding the wave of artificial intelligence by introducing its own AI machine, RankBrain to spearhead its search engine algorithm. Image courtesy of Kai Stachowiak
What is RankBrain?
As the name implies, RankBrain is an algorithm engineered to automatically make ranking decisions. According to Google Trend Analyst Gary Ilyes, RankBrain uses historical user search data to make a prediction on what the user will likely click. Essentially, RankBrain’s algorithm appears to be tailored to individual users. Since RankBrain is equipped to creatively use mathematical and statistical data to arrive at its own conclusion, Google’s current accuracy level is projected to go even higher in years to come.
It needs to be pointed out that RankBrain is completely different from the Google Knowledge Graph, another AI program introduced in 2012. The Knowledge Graph creates visualisations about the relationship between people, things and places which are then incorporated in the search results page in the form of a panel (typically on the top right of the page).
RankBrain in future
Going forward, Google theoretically no longer need to hand code their algorithm since RankBrain is supposed to come up with new lines of codes. Obviously, Google will still continue writing codes, or at least monitor what its intelligent machine produces. Initial tests reveal that RankBrain is already outperforming Google’s human engineers by 10%, so the gap will probably widen in the future.
In addition, depending on user history, keywords and search phrases, RankBrain will be able to dynamically change the relative values of other ranking signals such as backlinks or content length in its algorithm to refine search results.
Small wonder then that Google considers RankBrain as the third most important signal in its algorithm.
Want to know more?
Consult an SEO company on how you can use RankBrain to your advantage.