• Search ranking factors in leaked Yandex source code: https://twitter.com/alex_buraks/status/1618988134850785280?t=4HzRx9f680eTAh97JsBihA&s=19

    Theoretically, what is the difference between algorithms used in Google and in Yandex?They are quite similar:- there is RankBrain analogue - MatrixNet;- they are using PageRank (almost the same as in Google);- a lot of text algorithms are the same.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfFHMQWQAI5ab0.jpg

    • there are a lot of ex-googlers in Yandex;Yanex was build as Google clone;SEO specialists in Russia are using almost same white hat SEO tactics for Yandex and for Google

    Of course there are a lot of differences, but the approach and the majority of ranking factors seem to be similar.In practice: comparing Google vs Yandex search results they are a ~70% match.

    According to Statcounter Yandex is close to Yahoo and Bing by market share:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfFTltXoAA7vLU.jpg

    The file with ranking factors:

    dropbox.com/s/toyehkkfduog…

    Structure for each factor:

    • name
    • link to internal wiki (restricted)
    • AntiSeoUpperBound (haha)
    • description (it's in Russian, I translated it for you)
    • etc

    Funny, that the first factor in the list - PageRank.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfGT0kWIAExnJn.png

    https://www.dropbox.com/static/metaserver/static/images/spectrum-icons/generated/content/content-txt-large.png

    factors_gen.txtShared with Dropboxhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/toyehkkfduogbwk/factors_gen.txt?dl=0

    Main insights after analysing this list:#1 Age of links is a ranking factor.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfHEyjX0AM36ct.png

    #2 Traffic and % of organic traffic are ranking factors.Basicly it means that buying PPC affects rankings.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfHgecXwAAaqi7.png

    #3 Numbers in URLs is bad for rankings

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfIGjHWAAEmBy0.png

    #4 A lot of slashes in URLs is bad for ranking

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfIdz-WIAIAnHE.png

    #5 Hard pessimization equal PR=0

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfIQNsXwAAOcoD.png

    #6 Host reliability is a ranking factor.Less 40x/50x errors you have - better for your organic traffic.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfI4f-XEAAzlIQ.png

    #7 Fun fact - there is a separate ranking factor for uplifting Wikipedia

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfJyW8WIAAGzkW.png

    #8 A lot of ranking factors connected with user behaivor - CTR, last-click, time on site, bounce rate.Note: I'm 100% sure that in Yandex thouse factors impacting much more than in Google.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfKfeRWQAEgcvM.png

    #9 Document age and last update both are ranking factors.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfK-C5X0AAcIpT.png

    #10 Average domain position across all queries is a ranking factor.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfLTQ5WQAM12WI.png

    Right now I checked ~40% of the list, there are a lot more (about text relevancy, behaivor factors, page rank, internal links,etc).Will continue this thread after some time.

    Posted second part of this analysis: