This may be a new setup in the whole search algorithm equation, but Google has introduced a machine-learning artificial intelligence named RankBrain to process as much as 15 percent of daily search results. While this is not a replacement for the familiar Google Search algorithm, which has undergone several overhauls through the years, it handles a significant percentage of the large volume of Google daily searches.
The current Google algorithm is hummingbird, and this system processes the searches by people, combing through billions of pages to rank the ones it believes are the best.
On its own part, RankBrain is merely a part of this equation, interpreting incoming requests, trying to understand the requests and processing them through several ways.
For instance, someone might type in “house,” and the page might return information that matches several permutations of the word based on a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between words.
RankBrain uses artificial intelligence to embed large amounts of written language into mathematical entities called vectors that the computer can understand. As such, if RankBrain encounters a word or phrase it is not familiar with, the machine can guess at similar words or phrases that might have a similar meaning, and filter the result accordingly. This makes it easier to handle unknown or unfamiliar search queries.
RankBrain is only a small portion of the numerous signals that determines what appears on a Google search page, and ultimately, determines where they are ranked. Since its deployment, RankBrain has become the third most determinant affecting the outcome of a search query.
