Getting Over Ranking Factor Studies in the Era of Machine Learning September 25, 2018 Posted by Mordy Oberstein Just admit it, SEO is scary. Between the inherent complexity of what we do and Google not exactly being the epitome of clarity, the ground that is doing SEO can be a bit shaky at times. That's pretty much why we're obsessed with what works and what doesn't work and are vigilantly on the lookout for content that offers a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. In the not too distant past, I wrote a piece highlighting how machine learning has impacted rank volatility (in that rank is considerably more volatile). At the time, we touched on what machine learning means for understanding how ranking works and how the process directly influences rank. Here, we'll get into the nitty-gritty of it all by analyzing the holy of holies of optimization information, ranking factor studies, particularly niche ranking studies by asking one very simple question .... Do ranking factors studies still apply in a world where machine learning and intent reign supreme, and if so, to what extent? Recap of Machine Learning's Impact on Rank The increase in rank volatility aside, in what for all intents and purposes was "Part I" of this post we discussed how machine learning impacts rank qualitatively, i.e., what rank "looks like" as a result of RankBrain and the like. Since I'm a nice guy, let me recap (and expand on) what we said there so that you don't have to comb through the last piece trying to glue together all of the pieces to the puzzle. Machine Learning Sets Site Proportions In serving up results that align to user intent, Google uses machine learning to determine the proportion of sites to meet that intent or those intents. OK, Mordy, say that in English, please?! If you'll remember, in the last post I took a very straightforward search term, buy car insurance, and showed that Google sees two (or really more than two) intents embedded in that phrase: to buy an actual insurance policy and to get information about doing just that. How should Google handle these two intents?