tedster - 3:34 pm on Apr 22, 2008 (gmt 0)

Well, I don't think we've got a summary or an understanding. And officially, Matt Cutts did not confirm this as a new algo at all - he took exception to us giving it a name. So we're probably seeing an ongoing shift of the total existing algo and noticing some "dials" that were not obvious before.

What are they? I don't think we've got it. We can describe the effect, but not why those particular odd urls get promoted when others don't. Andy Warhol said that in the future everyone would enjoy 15 minutes of fame - so this is the Warhol effect.

Whatever the SERP volatility is, it's been showing us very odd behavior -- unlikely pages fly into the top spots for a bit and then vanish. By the way, the MySpace page I mentioned seeing at #4 yesterday is ranking at #53 today.

And on that same SERP there's another odd new comer show showed up a few weeks ago. And it stuck around, usually at #6 with an occasional trip to #3 for a day. The person's name on this SERP has a shorter first and last name than even Yoko Ono - but I'll use her name as an example. I's as if "Mary Yokoono" suddeny appeared in the search for "Yoko Ono" - and then stuck. I guess that's more of Udi Manber's diversity.

In fact, one main thrust of Google's evolution in recent months, not just April, seems to be summed up in that word "diversity.'