How Proxies Transformed Search Engines
Is it necessary for search engines to use proxies?
Search engines keep their indexing, ranking, and sorting algorithms secret. In the early days of the most popular search engine, Google, the ranking factors were relatively simple, primarily requiring keywords and links. Nowadays, it is difficult to determine exactly how many ranking factors Google has, but it is estimated that there are over 200. This complexity has increased as the web has expanded and become more sophisticated, with users trying to unravel those hidden factors in search of benefits.
Creating a new search engine today would require proxy servers to function properly. The underlying technology of a search engine is quite basic and consists of an automated script that crawls websites, downloads the HTML, and analyzes the content. If the content is relevant, it is added to an index that users can query via a search bar. However, in such a vast internet, a search engine of this kind would be deemed ineffective.
Since a crawler needs to send thousands or even millions of requests to index all the content of a website, a normal IP address is likely to be blocked. Moreover, some content is only available based on geographical location, making proxies indispensable. Established search engines like Google do not face this prohibition, as most sites want their content indexed, but they may need specific localized content, which they likely obtain through their own servers.
On the other hand, SEO professionals have tried to figure out how search engines rank websites and what factors affect those positions. For a regular user, this is practically impossible to unravel. Although Google provides guidelines, these are often vague, and experts have found ways to collect large-scale data from search engines to gain insights into ranking factors. The use of proxies is necessary, as most search engines quickly block those who send too many requests.
SEO professionals have developed tools to understand how and why search engines adjust their rankings, some of which have proven to be accurate and helpful. A notable example of manipulation of the ranking system occurred in an SEO contest in 2018, where an English-language rhinoplasty website was entirely written in Latin, achieving high rankings.
Search engines are aware of the tools that attempt to reveal ranking factors. Therefore, if this information is too precise, they must adjust their algorithms to prevent abuse of the system. The possibility of knowing the ranking methods in detail can lead to complications, resulting in a constant game of cat and mouse between search engines and SEO experts. This game is made possible by the massive data collection supported by proxies, which significantly influences how search engines operate.
Although proxies might be seen as having a negative impact by revealing secret ranking systems, many of the changes in algorithms over the years have been aimed at improving search results. In a way, SEO tools and web data collection through proxies provide indirect competition to search engines, pushing them to continually enhance and adjust their algorithms, ultimately benefiting everyone in the long run.
