February 24, 2018

9 Ways Search Engines Use Machine Learning

Since 2010, I am hearing about machine learning. In the beginning, it was an alien and scary term to me but things have changed now.

Now I know, how latest technologies are providing best solutions. I can answer the most practical questions such as;
  1. How search engine uses machine learning?
  2. How will machine learning affect the SEO?
Google is the first machine learning company. Google machine learning analyze the historical data, trends, and values.


9 Ways Search Engines Use Machine Learning: eAskme
9 Ways Search Engines Use Machine Learning: eAskme
Other people are reading: Search Engine Optimization Services to Improve Your Website’s Visibility

Search engines are using machine learning techniques to improve the search results.

Today I will share how you can identify that search engines are using machine learning techniques. You will also understand

How machine learning relates to digital marketing or SEO.

1) Pattern detection:

Search engines are using machine learning technology for pattern detection.

Why?

Because it helps to identify duplicate content and identify scams. It actually helps them to identify low-quality content and downgrade such sites.

Machine learning helps search engines to identify low-quality content on the basis of;
  • Unnatural External links
  • Synonyms or stop words
  • other factors
As machine learning automatically detects such content it saves a lot of time and energy. Search engines do not need manpower for this job.

There is no doubt that Google is still using manpower for various jobs but machine learning has helped it to automatically crawl millions of pages on regular basis and kick out the low-quality pages.

It is said that the more pages machine learning technology analyze the more it evolves.

2) Identify new factors/signals:

In 2016, Garry Illyes from Google said that Ranbrain helps to identify new ranking signals and identify patterns in user queries.

He also said that to improve the quality of search results, Google identifies ranking signals based on machine learning technology.

Machine learning has helped Google to use manpower in more innovative and human-centered jobs.

Search engines are using this technology to identify latest trends and make predictions.

3) Impact of SERP:

Even though this machine learning technology is evolving, still it has no major impact on SERP results.

Google is focused to use this technology to offer better results and improve the user experience. They still not using this technology to completely automate the process of ranking and finding content.

Till now machine learning has the least impact on SERP and in coming years also it is not necessary that there will be major changes in its use.

4) Read signals based on Query:

According to the study done by the University of Washington, use of machine learning technology in search engines depends upon the category of the phrase or query.

They have used Yandex for this study and found out that it displays results based on the category of the query.

The result shows that machine learning technology is in use to put weight on some certain queries.

Machine learning has increased the CTR of personalized search by 10%. The more queries a user enter in Tandex the more CTR it shows.

This can happen when the search engine tries to find out the specific user preferences based on present information.

5) Understand photos using image search:

Users are uploading millions of photos every day on social networks. Now sites want to analyze and catalog these uploads.

Machine learning technology is best for this job. It analyzes shape patterns and color with existing data. It helps search engines to understand what an image is.

machine learning helps Google to catalog images in Google image search. It also helps the common user to search photos based on his query.

Google's "Visually similar images" also helps you to find images related to the similar pattern or color.

6) Identify similar search queries:

Machine learning helps Google to read patterns in various search queries to offer the best results.

The best example is Google trends where you will get nonsensical results based on meaningless queries.

The query that user search, again and again, helps Google to find out what user is looking for and provide best results in SERP.

7) Improve User Targeting and Ad Quality:

According to Google, machine learning technology improves the statistical model. It shows that machine learning can influence Ad rank.

AdRank threshold varies according to the keyword.

8) Identify Synonyms:

Do you know that Google uses RankBrain to identify synonyms?

When you search some word you can easily find that the sites with synonyms rank on the first page.

9) Clarify Query:

User search based on resource, research or transaction. A keyword can be used for various intents.

Google uses machine learning technology to analyze the content type and click pattern to find out how user engage.

Final Words:

I must say that machine learning is still not perfect. With increased interactions, it gets better. Search engines are using it to improve user experience and provide improved services.