Topic
Freshness
The smallest class, and the one with a hidden dependency: deciding that recent content should win assumes you know when the content is from. Google does not take a page's word for its own date, which makes dating a system of its own rather than a detail.
01Systems2
- 24BFreshnessTwiddler / RealTimeBoostCurrent pages rank higher, but only if the query actually demands freshness. For certain queries Google expects fresh content; the concept is called 'Query Deserves Freshness' (QDF). FreshnessTwiddler gives current pages a temporary ranking boost. RealTimeBoost is the sharper variant for real-time events like severe weather or breaking news.
- 25B/ODate triangulationGoogle detects a 'date lie' by comparing three different signals for a page's date. (1) The visible date in the article (bylineDate) is easy to fake. (2) The date from URL, markup or timestamp (syntacticDate) is also easy to manipulate. (3) The date inferred from the text content (semanticDate) can only be changed through genuine content updates. When the three don't agree, Google sees a 'date lie'.
02Deep Dives3
- FreshnessTwiddler: How Google Decides When Fresh Content MattersThe query-dependent freshness system — and the patent that reveals how update frequency, staleness, and link freshness become ranking signals
- Date triangulation: How Google Determines When a Page Was Really PublishedThe patent that reveals six different date sources Google uses — and why faking a byline date doesn't work
- Google Update History: What a Timeline of Named Updates Can and Cannot ShowGoogle names roughly ten updates a year and ships thousands of changes. The timeline is real, dated and official — and it is a filtered excerpt of Google's own communication decisions · also in Penalty & Spam
03Leak fields4
- B
bylineDateA visibly stated date. It is cheap to fake.Datums-Triangulation - B
syntacticDateExtracted from the URL, markup or timestamp. That is cheap to fake.Datums-Triangulation - B
semanticDateInferred from the content. It can only be faked through genuine updating.Datums-Triangulation - B
FreshnessTwiddler / RealTimeBoostFreshness boost (QDF, Query Deserves Freshness) and short-lived real-time spikes.FreshnessTwiddler
04Theses0
No thesis touches this topic yet.