{"id":7930,"date":"2023-01-30T21:15:42","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T21:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/30\/yandex-scrapes-google-and-other-seo-learnings-from-the-source-code-leak\/"},"modified":"2023-01-30T21:15:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T21:15:42","slug":"yandex-scrapes-google-and-other-seo-learnings-from-the-source-code-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/30\/yandex-scrapes-google-and-other-seo-learnings-from-the-source-code-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"Yandex scrapes Google and other SEO learnings from the source code leak"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cFragments\u201d of Yandex\u2019s codebase leaked online<\/a> last week. Much like Google, Yandex is a platform with many aspects such as email, maps, a taxi service, etc. The code leak featured chunks of all of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the documentation therein, Yandex\u2019s codebase was folded into one large repository called Arcadia in 2013. The leaked codebase is a subset of all projects in Arcadia and we find several components in it related to the search engine in the \u201cKernel,\u201d \u201cLibrary,\u201d \u201cRobot,\u201d \u201cSearch,\u201d and \u201cExtSearch\u201d archives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The move is wholly unprecedented. Not since the AOL search query data of 2006 has something so material related to a web search engine entered the public domain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although we are missing the data and many files that are referenced, this is the first instance of a tangible look at how a modern search engine works at the code level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Personally, I can\u2019t get over how fantastic the timing is to be able to actually see the code as I finish my book \u201cThe Science of SEO\u201d where I\u2019m talking about Information Retrieval, how modern search engines actually work, and how to build a simple one yourself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In any event, I\u2019ve been parsing through the code since last Thursday and any engineer will tell you that is not enough time to understand how everything works. So, I suspect there will be several more posts as I keep tinkering.<\/p>\n

Before we jump in, I want to give a shout-out to Ben Wills<\/a> at Ontolo for sharing the code with me, pointing me in the initial direction of where the good stuff is, and going back and forth with me as we deciphered things. Feel free to grab the spreadsheet with all the data we\u2019ve compiled about the ranking factors here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, shout out to Ryan Jones<\/a> for digging in and sharing some key findings with me over IM.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OK, let\u2019s get busy!<\/p>\n

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