--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In comparison, Google is brilliant…" description: "\"In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links to them, with those links themselves valued..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg" --- # In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an… ![“In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links to them, with those links themselves valued by the number of links to their page of origin.” quote by Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg) > “In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links to them, with those links themselves valued by the number of links to their page of origin.” [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote explains that Google’s ranking system values pages based on how many other pages link to them, and those linking pages are weighted by their own link counts. **In simple terms:** Google ranks pages by link quantity and quality. Key Takeaway Understand and leverage link building for SEO. Themes search engine optimization link analysis digital marketing Mood analytical informative Type educational strategic When to use this quote - website promotion - content strategy - online reputation management Key Concepts PageRank network theory authority metrics Questions to Reflect On - How can you earn genuine backlinks? - What risks do artificial link schemes pose? A Different Perspective Reliance on links can be manipulated by spam or link farms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Algorithms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/algorithms/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Origin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/origin/) [Web](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/web/) ## Related quotes > [Entire new continent can emerge from the ocean in the time it takes for a Web page to show up on your screen. 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I worry about shortening attention spans, the physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-weil/to-be-clear-i-worry-as-much-about-the-impact-of-the-internet-as/) [Andrew Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-weil/) > [It's the same reason why someone has a Web page or why people feel comfortable going on reality TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlene-li/it-s-the-same-reason-why-someone-has-a-web-page-or-why-people-feel/) [Charlene Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlene-li/) > [“Be very careful. We suggest getting a book on HTML to avoid becoming a real legend in the hacker world. Putting up a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-goldstein/be-very-careful-we-suggest-getting-a-book-on-html-to-avoid-becoming-a/) [Emmanuel Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-goldstein/) > [“button (for example, if you’re reading a book or viewing a web page), simply tap your finger in the middle of the screen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-bohner/button-for-example-if-you-re-reading-a-book-or-viewing-a-web-page/) Carl Bohner > [“A pair of eyes attached to a human brain can quickly make sense of the content presented on a web page and decide whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/a-pair-of-eyes-attached-to-a-human-brain-can-quickly-make-sense-of/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [If you look at how many thousands and thousands of pages, Web pages, are being added to the Internet every day, it's the fastest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/if-you-look-at-how-many-thousands-and-thousands-of-pages-web-pages/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [Once you understand that everybody's going to get connected, a lot of things follow from that. If everybody gets the Internet, they end up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andreessen/once-you-understand-that-everybody-s-going-to-get-connected-a-lot-of/) [Marc Andreessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andreessen/) > [If you don't have an e-mail address, you're in the Netherworld. If you don't have your own World Wide Web page, you're a nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-stoll/if-you-don-t-have-an-e-mail-address-you-re-in-the-netherworld-if-you/) [Clifford Stoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-stoll/) > [Most of the network related programming in games has to do with providing a good interactive experience when playing over the internet. This matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothee-besset/most-of-the-network-related-programming-in-games-has-to-do-with/) Timothee Besset > [We came up with the notion that not all web pages are created equal. People are – but not web pages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergey-brin/we-came-up-with-the-notion-that-not-all-web-pages-are-created-equal/) [Sergey Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergey-brin/) > [Individual web pages as they first appeared in the early 1990s had the flavour of person-hood. MySpace preserved some of that flavour, though a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/individual-web-pages-as-they-first-appeared-in-the-early-1990s-had/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [This intelligence, or what I'll call "the wisdom of crowds," is at work in the world in many different guises. It's the reason the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/this-intelligence-or-what-i-ll-call-the-wisdom-of-crowds-is-at-work/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) ## More by Michael Shermer > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“According to Dembski, for example, “scientific creationism has prior religious commitments whereas intelligent design does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/according-to-dembski-for-example-scientific-creationism-has-prior/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-first-cause-and-prime-mover-argument-brilliantly-proffered-by-st/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Mind is just a word we use to describe neural activity in the brain. No brain, no mind. We know this because if a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mind-is-just-a-word-we-use-to-describe-neural-activity-in-the-brain/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-always-accepted-the-libertarian-position-of-minimum-regulation-in/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [If spirituality is the sense of awe and humility in the face of the creation, what could be more awesome and humbling than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/if-spirituality-is-the-sense-of-awe-and-humility-in-the-face-of-the/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such diverse fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-know-evolution-happened-not-because-of-transitional-fossils-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Yet basically, libertarians are for freedom and liberty for individuals, while recognizing that in order to be free we must also be protected. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/yet-basically-libertarians-are-for-freedom-and-liberty-for/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/scientists-like-bjorn-lomborg-in-the-skeptical-environmentalist-have/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/when-religious-believers-invoke-miracles-and-acts-of-creation-ex/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an epic saga…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/darwin-matters-because-evolution-matters-evolution-matters-because/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-can-be-more-soul-shaking-than-peering-through-a-100-inch/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Neuroscientist David Comings drew out the larger implications of such hallucinations for the relationship between our rational and spiritual brains: The psychedelic drugs like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/neuroscientist-david-comings-drew-out-the-larger-implications-of-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) [Explore all 160 Michael Shermer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## More Algorithms quotes > [ With recidivism algorithms, for example, I worry about racist outcomes. With personality tests \[for hiring\], I worry about filtering out people with mental health… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-o-neil/with-recidivism-algorithms-for-example-i-worry-about-racist-outcomes/) [Cathy O'Neil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-o-neil/) > [“He considers it for a moment and spits out the seeds, which sprout, quickly, into tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms. The algorithms wriggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/he-considers-it-for-a-moment-and-spits-out-the-seeds-which-sprout/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“no matter how much tech companies talk about algorithms like they’re nothing but advanced math, they always reflect the values of their creators:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-wachter-boettcher/no-matter-how-much-tech-companies-talk-about-algorithms-like-they-re/) [Sara Wachter-Boettcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-wachter-boettcher/) > [Google has - at least at this point - maintained the line where it keeps organic results separate from the advertisements. But over time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/google-has-at-least-at-this-point-maintained-the-line-where-it-keeps/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [ The classes of problems which are respectively known and not known to have good algorithms are of great theoretical interest. \[...\] I conjecture that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-edmonds/the-classes-of-problems-which-are-respectively-known-and-not-known-to/) [Jack Edmonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-edmonds/) > [No one knows what the right algorithm is, but it gives us hope that if we can discover some crude approximation of whatever this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-ng/no-one-knows-what-the-right-algorithm-is-but-it-gives-us-hope-that-if/) [Andrew Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-ng/) > [“Data Scientists should recall innovation often times is not providing fancy algorithms, but rather value to the customer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-mingle/data-scientists-should-recall-innovation-often-times-is-not-providing/) [Damian Mingle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-mingle/) > [I don't think anybody's ever notified that they were sentenced to an extra two years because their recidivism score had been high, or notified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-o-neil/i-don-t-think-anybody-s-ever-notified-that-they-were-sentenced-to-an/) [Cathy O'Neil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-o-neil/) > [ Object-oriented programming aficionados think that everything is an object… this \[isn't\] so. There are things that are objects. Things that have state and change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stepanov/object-oriented-programming-aficionados-think-that-everything-is-an/) [Alexander Stepanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stepanov/) > [ \[The Euclidean algorithm is\] the granddaddy of all algorithms, because it is the oldest nontrivial algorithm that has survived to the present day. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-knuth/the-euclidean-algorithm-is-the-granddaddy-of-all-algorithms-because/) [Donald Knuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-knuth/) > [I like to think our brains are a bit like algorithms. Whatever you give it and feed it, you get out the product.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-mckenna/i-like-to-think-our-brains-are-a-bit-like-algorithms-whatever-you/) [Declan McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declan-mckenna/) > [Bitcoin is not “unregulated”. It is regulated by algorithm instead of being regulated by government bureaucracies. Un-corrupted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreas-antonopoulos/bitcoin-is-not-unregulated-it-is-regulated-by-algorithm-instead-of/) [Andreas Antonopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreas-antonopoulos/) > [It took me 1057 pages to describe the hundreds of mathematical equations, algorithms and programming techniques that I invented and used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-emeagwali/it-took-me-1057-pages-to-describe-the-hundreds-of-mathematical/) [Philip Emeagwali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-emeagwali/) > [“We will start by sketching the recursive algorithm and then add details to get to a full description of the algorithm. Footnote : Translation:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sariel-har-peled/we-will-start-by-sketching-the-recursive-algorithm-and-then-add/) Sariel Har-Peled > [The emphasis on mathematical methods seems to be shifted more towards combinatorics and set theory - and away from the algorithm of differential equations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-von-neumann/the-emphasis-on-mathematical-methods-seems-to-be-shifted-more-towards/) [John von Neumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-von-neumann/) [Browse all 154 Algorithms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/algorithms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links to them, with those links themselves valued by the number of links to their page of origin.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Shermer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-because-it-uses-an-algorithm-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Algorithms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-because-it-uses-an-algorithm-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e7/michael-shermer-2567_algorithms_in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-becaus_1713434.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In comparison, Google is brilliant because it uses an algorithm that ranks Web pages by the number of links…” — Michael Shermer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Shermer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In comparison, Google is brilliant because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-because-it-uses-an-algorithm-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/in-comparison-google-is-brilliant-because-it-uses-an-algorithm-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```