Former Googler: Google ‘using clicks in rankings’
Yes, a former Googler has confirmed that Google uses clicks in rankings.
Eric Lehman, a software engineer who worked on search quality and ranking at Google for 17 years, testified in an antitrust trial that Google has historically used click-through rate (CTR) as a ranking signal.
Lehman said that Google's position is to not provide a clear message about whether it's using click data — even though it is — out of fear that search engine optimizers or others could try to influence the rankings.
However, Lehman also testified that Google is now less reliant upon and moving away from click data. He said that Google is now using more sophisticated machine learning algorithms to rank search results, which take into account a wider range of factors, such as the quality of the content, the relevance of the content to the query, and the expertise of the website.
It is important to note that Google has always maintained that it does not use clicks as a direct ranking signal. However, Lehman's testimony confirms that clicks have been used in the past, and that they may still be used to some extent today.
So, what does this mean for website owners and SEO professionals? It means that it is important to focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to the keywords you are targeting. You should also make sure that your website is well-optimized for search engines.
If your website provides a good user experience and your content is valuable, then you are more likely to get clicks, even if you are not ranked as high in the search results