The brains behind intelligent searches

Those clever folk at Google are always coming up with new and innovative ways of improving internet searches and, as SEO experts in Leeds, we at ExciteBrand are often asked to explain these new developments.

One such innovation is Google RankBrain and we’re happy to give you the lowdown on this exciting new tool.

What Is RankBrain?

Put simply, RankBrain is the name Google has given to its machine-learning artificial intelligence system.  Google uses this system to process and sort through its search results.  Rank Brain is part of Hummingbird, Google’s search algorithm which is a program designed to sift through billions of pages and match them with particular queries or ‘searches’.

RankBrain is one of the hundreds of signals which make up the Hummingbird algorithm and is thought to be the third most important one in terms of search queries, making up around 15%.  If you think of Hummingbird as the engine of a car, RankBrain would be equivalent to the carburetor.

So, what does it do?

RankBrain embeds huge amounts of written content into mathematical entities called vectors – vectors are, basically, a form of language that a computer can understand.  Due to its AI composition, if RankBrain comes across an unfamiliar word or phrase, it’s able to take a guess at the meaning in order to filter results.

Why is RankBrain important?

When it comes to SEO, RankBrain is a bit of a game-changer – something we’re very excited about as SEO experts in Leeds.  Previously, you would need to use defined keywords and phrases to be picked up in online searches.  Google’s software engineers would create algorithms that would be constant until physical updates were made, which meant that they were often reactive rather than proactive.  With the introduction of RankBrain, those algorithms are now able to learn and adapt to search engine landscapes, giving much wider scope to searches.

How does RankBrain affect me?

As a marketer, you need to be keeping an eye on your SEO campaigns to make them more adaptable to this changing landscape.  SEO experts in Leeds, ExciteBrand have been taking a close look at RankBrain over the past year or so and are able to help you make sure that your campaigns are making the most of this important new development,