Google Admits to Serving Random Search Results...Especially When you're Paying Attention

Ever get the feeling that the search results you're getting are changing every time you click the 'search' button even while using the same query? We know you've had that 'WTF is going on' thought when you're trying to show a client or employer the results of a search you just did 2 minutes earlier but the results have changed.

Well, you can take a deep breath now because those conspiracy theory thoughts rolling around in your head have just been officially confirmed. A Google patent called Ranking Documents that was recently uncovered goes into detail about how Google serves seemingly random results to webmasters when things have changed on a site in an effort to fight 'rank-modifying spamming' and 'rank manipulation'.

The concept is that when Google detects a change to your site that is meant to manipulate your rankings in any way (ie: any type of link building) then they will randomize your site's rankings for a while to give you the impression that it's not working. Then when enough time has lapsed your true ranking will surface.

Within the 2 year old patent Google outlines everything they consider 'Rank-modifying spamming techniques' which '...degrades the quality of the search results provided by existing search engines.' Here's a summary with more details found within doing a quick ctrl+F within the patent, although none of these are new to you:

• Keyword stuffing.
• Page redirects.
• Link-based manipulation.
• Invisible text or tiny text.

The list above seems like legitimate reasons to tip a red flag with the search engines. However, this same filter could potentially react the same way when legitimate optimization techniques are done on too large of scale. So what happens when Google's R...