@build_in_public: It’s crazy that more marketers don’t know about this. Google had a patent that was basically designed to mess with people trying to manipulate SEO rankings. Here’s how it worked. You make a change to your webpage. Google looks at the old rank of your page, then calculates what your new rank should be. But before giving you that new ranking, Google can apply something called a rank transition function. That function creates unpredictable ranking fluctuations. So instead of immediately showing your real new rank, Google might publish a temporary, misleading rank, then watch what you do next. And Google explains why. They say this is meant to catch spammers. That “observe behavior” step lets Google see whether someone panics when rankings move in an unexpected way. A spammer might remove backlinks, change keyword placements, undo edits, or make even more aggressive changes. And if Google sees weird behavior during that transition period, the page might not get the ranking boost the person expected. Now, important caveat: this patent has expired. Some SEOs think that’s because Google doesn’t want people assuming they still use it. They had the patent long enough to stay ahead of other search engines. But openly admitting that ranking volatility can be used to trick manipulators makes the trick harder to use. Either way, this is one of the most interesting Google patents I’ve found. I covered it on The Edward Show Podcast, plus another newer patent. Episode is called: “Google’s New AI Patent Could Replace Your Website.” That’s episode 974.

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Tuesday 09 June 2026 21:14:57 GMT