Google exposes search algorithm secrets

Google has kept its search ranking formulas a closely guarded secret

Google has pledged to adopt a more open approach with the formula for its hitherto fiercely guarded search algorithms.

Udi Manber, Google's vice president of engineering, made the announcement on a corporate blog as part of a "renewed effort" to open up the company's secrets.

Manber claimed that competition and attempts to prevent abuse have been the main reasons for Google's historic secretive stance.

Google has kept its search ranking formulas a closely guarded secret to make it more difficult for people to "game the system", he wrote.

"But being completely secretive is not ideal, and this blog post is part of a renewed effort to open up a bit more than we have in the past," said Manber.

"We will try periodically to tell you about new things, explain old things, give advice, spread news and engage in conversations. Let me start with some general pieces of information about our group. More blog posts will follow."

Manber also outlined the ongoing challenges faced by the company, including the rapid growth in user expectations.

"Tomorrow's queries will be much harder than today's queries," he said.

"Just as Moore's Law governs the doubling of computing speed every 18 months, there is a hidden unwritten law that doubles the complexity of our most difficult queries in a short time."