Google search seeks to understand users, queries, and Web pages
Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)Google has been sharing more about how its search engine works, and we got another installation in a series of blog posts on Wednesday: details of Google ranking.
The post--the second by Amit Singhal--will be familiar to close watchers of Google or to those who have spent time listening to recent executive speeches from Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search and user experience, and others. But it's still worth a read: it sheds some light on a process that many people probably see only as imponderable magic or simpler than it really is.
In short, Singhal describes various parts of the search problem. Google must have "understanding" of the pages it indexes, the queries people type into the Google search page, and attributes of the searcher such as what region the user is searching from.
Singhal indulges in a little self-congratulation about the quality of Google search results. But like Google's chief engineer in charge of search quality, Udi Manber, he also takes pains to emphasize that "search is nowhere close to being a solved problem."
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
