Head of Search Quality promises openness. Reveals nothing at all...

Maybe I'm just cynical or maybe it is just because I work in search marketing but when I read a post by Udi Manber (Head of Search Quality) on the Official Google Blog promising greater openness about search rankings...I wasn't expecting great revelations.

"...being completely secretive isn’t ideal, and this blog post is part of a renewed effort to open up a bit more than we have in the past. We will try to periodically 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."

So here's what Udi told us that we didn't already know...

"..."

Loads.

Having said that he did tell us that Google are always evaluating how good their search results are. Nice to know. And...you've heard of Moore's law (probably) but there's a law you perhaps didn't know...(Udi's law?)

"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. This is impossible to measure precisely, but we all feel it. We know we cannot rest on our laurels, we have to work hard to meet the challenge."

I've no doubt these guys do a brilliant job. Google's success started with their great search algorithm. They continue to provide brilliant results in less than seconds. People use Google every day and rely on it to give them the information they want. Good job.

I would encourage to come good on their promise of more openness. I look forward to them making more 'effort to open up a bit'. If they don't then perhaps we'll have to invent Google's law - that though they promise much, they deliver little.