Welcome to SEO Advantage’s Trivia feature Friday, where we discuss, dissect and comment on the internet and marketing, and how the two intertwine.
Which of the following is NOT the name of an algorithm used for Search Engine Ranking?
- A. Hilltop
- B. SALSA (Stochastic Approach for Link-Structure Analysis)
- C. SMART (Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique)
- D. HITS (Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search)
(See answer below)
Search Engine Ranking is defined by the position at which a website is listed in a search engine query. In order to have a high search ranking, a website needs to be listed within the top returns. Numerous algorithms are used to determine search engine rankings. All three of the above are algorithms except SMART.
SALSA is a stochastic method to analyze link structure. This method focuses on the graphs that result from different link structures. Specifically, SALSA scans the random walks found on these graphs.
Hilltop is an algorithm that examines the quality of a page through its good measures. The way the hilltop algorithm differs from others is that it focuses solely on expert sources. Hilltop algorithms do this by finding any relevant links among the expert sources, following the websites in question and then ranking these websites by relevance.
The HITS algorithm uses two components: sampling and weight-propagation. The sampling component involves creating a collection of webpages that have authority in a given subject, and the weight-propagation component decides an estimated weight to be given to the authority. The highest weights become the hub and/or authority for the specific search topic.
As for SMART, there is such a thing; however, it has nothing to do with search engines.
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(Answer: C)